Euthanasia: Time to Die
There are two type of euthanasia, one is aggressive or active, while the other one is passive. Personally, I'm ok with the latter, but against the former. Though ideally, it would be so much better not to resort to it as much as possible.
Allow me to share a story...
Mama and I during my graduation... <3
Before pursuing my career as a teacher, I actually studied nursing and though I didn't have any experiences working in the hospital, I had a bunch of experiences in the field as a student nurse.
I have a very memorable and sad experience. In one of our duty week at the hospital, my group and I were assigned in the emergency room. It was the morning shift and it's usually the busiest in that hospital. There weren't a lot of staff, so several tasks were assigned to us student nurses as well.
Later that morning, there was one grandpa who was brought to the emergency room. He was unconscious and the doctor called me to assist him in trying to revive the patient. I did ambu bagging while the doctor continued with the compressions. We did so for quite a while, but the grandpa was too old and it would do his body more harm if we continued.
The other doctor who was talking to the patient's family asked them if they want to sign a DNR order. (DNR stands for Do-not-resuscitate) When they did, the doctor giving compressions asked me to stop ambu bagging the patient, which I reluctantly did... and after a few more minutes, the patient expired.
That experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. I wanted to grab onto that small hope of still reviving the patient, but the family decided to give up. I couldn't understand it that time... maybe because I was shocked and sad with what just happened. I was trying to hold my emotions in check because as a health practitioner, we don't only have to help the patients but also support the significant others, so it wouldn't be good to cry.
As I reflected later that day, I remembered what happened to my grandpa a couple years back before this emergency room incident happened. He had liver cirrhosis and due to his old age, undergoing a surgery would be too risky. Despite the plea of his children, my grandpa decided to be brought back to Negros (his hometown) from Cebu (where he was hospitalized). He said he wanted to rest... and go home.
A few days after going back home, my grandpa passed away.
He chose to meet his end at home. Even though there was still a chance for him to survive and live longer if he stayed at the hospital, he chose not to.
I painted my grandpa... <3
Being able to have witnessed these situations, I thought that having the choice of getting passive euthanasia is ok, but should be with consent either from the patient or the significant others. My grandpa decided to refuse further medical help because he wanted to die a peaceful and natural death... and I think the family of the grandpa in the emergency room also felt the same.
However, for some reasons, I don't want to agree with aggressive or active euthanasia. It's not, in any way, a natural death... it's assisted suicide. There's a difference between not giving CPR -- allowing the patient to die naturally and injecting the patient with lethal substance for them to die.
People should have the right to choose how to meet their end, but just like other rights, it should come with some limitations... and aggressive euthanasia is one of them.
PS: This is a very sensitive topic, but I want to share my thoughts on it. I hope you consider my views as I would with yours. Thank you! And see you around!