Month: February 2019
The Theories of Democracy
July 4, 1776 was the date that the United States of America gained its freedom from the monarchy of Great Britain. The U.S. citizens could not take anymore of King George III’s rule and fought for a different government system, one where they could have a voice and independence. The U.S. was founded based upon these desires and therefore they formed a democracy. The question however, is which kind of democracy did the U.S. become? There are three theories of which America could be, being pluralist, elitist or direct. A pluralist democracy consists of groups that are formed by people who share a common interest and compete against other groups, while an elitist democracy is the belief that those with power and money are the only ones that influence the government and lastly in contrast, a direct democracy is a system in which the individual citizen directly participates in politics (“Who Governs?” 2016). All three theories of democracy can be viewed inside America. Chinatown and Little Italy are examples of a pluralist democracy because they keep to their own culture while continuing to contribute to the U.S. with their opinions (“Examples of Pluralism” 2016). Senators and house representatives can be considered elitists, due to the fact they hold a political position where they have a direct voice to the situation, which also most likely means they came from a wealthy family and were given a superior education. For instance, Barack Obama, the first black president came from Hawaii, a very expensive state due to tax imports and attended a private school. It was found that in a 2003 survey, 41% of house representatives and 46% of senators had their children attend private schools. It was also recorded that an amendment to provide scholarships to students from low performing public schools was turned down because that would have meant those students would have been able to attend schools in the same area as the congressmen's children (Chen, 2011). Many believe that America is a direct democracy because the constitution states “we the people.” Although this historical document is meant to determine the country belongs to the voices of the individuals, the United States can be best explained to be a pluralist democracy.
Although many congressmen are considered to be elitist, they are chosen to be the people’s representatives. Individuals all have a standpoint on what they desire. To make these desires come true, they form into a group. For example, democrats and republicans. These groups of people who have common beliefs on how the government should be run bond together and choose a representative. This representative is the larger voice for all the individuals that make up the group and despite they are part of a higher class, they maintain the same interests, therefore the elitist is more of a group member than above the rest. Another example was, “In Sturges vs. Crowninshield the question was whether the State of New York had the power to pass a bankrupt law, it being alleged that the power to pass bankrupt laws was vested exclusively in Congress.” (Ritcher, 1929, p. 515).
Both the state government and congress in this case, were the competing groups that were fighting over who had the power to pass the law, bringing the question which group has more power? The U.S. is considered to be a melting pot, being one of the more diverse nations with all kinds of different ethnicities, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. All these different beliefs mean that these groups compete for different objects, such as money, power, resources, anything that would be in the groups best interest. This competition may create some conflict but overall is more beneficial since each group is able to listen, understand, and respect one another (Norman, 2018, p. 2).
America is a society with a democratic government system to express its ultimate value of freedom. It involves representation but is a pluralist democracy. Individuals make up a group who have an elitist that speaks for their beliefs but is considered an equal member because of shared ideals. Many groups within the U.S. compete against each other over what they want or believe is best for that group, making the pluralist democracy theory the best theory to describe the United States of America.
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The Theories of Democracy. (2019, Feb 13).
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The Case for a Plant-Based Diet
There are countless reasons to stop the raising and slaughter of farmed animals for food, including health, environmental, and humanitarian concerns. My main reasons for not eating meat or dairy products are humanitarian, but in this paper, I will try to make the case for ceasing the raising of farmed animals for the sake of the environment and vulnerable people groups, in our own and in other countries, who raise animals or animal feed to satisfy Americans’ taste for animal flesh. Good!
People shrug and say that eating meat is “natural”, that humans have always done it, and that’s the way it is—and, evidently, that’s the way it should continue to be. Really? Isaac Bashevis Singer said, “People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.” In fact, eating meat the way we now do it is not “natural” at all. According to Dr. Neil Barnard “[M]eat-eating probably began by scavenging—eating the leftovers that carnivores had left behind. However, our bodies have never adapted to it.” In talking about humans’ early diet, Barnard explains that we “had diets very much like other great apes, which is to say a largely plant-based diet …. To this day, meat-eaters have a higher incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other problems.” (The Power of Your Plate) Very good!
Nature is cruel; industrializing that cruelty is wrong. ( 2018 U.S. Animal Kill Clock) “No other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or brutally as we do. Were the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or even figuratively, we would not long continue to raise, kill, and eat animals the way we do. Tail docking and sow crates and beak clipping would disappear overnight, and the days of slaughtering four hundred head of cattle an hour would promptly come to an end — for who could stand the sight?” (Pollan 333)
In 2014, in the U.S. alone, nine billion land animals were killed to produce meat, dairy, and eggs for human consumption. One million animals per hour were slaughtered. Globally, 70 billion were killed. The number of aquatic animals slaughtered annually is in the trillions. (https://awfw.org/factory-farms/; https://awfw.org/factory-farms/) No one wants to think about this stuff, let alone see it: “Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand... that something terribly wrong is happening. Our sustenance now comes from misery. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film. We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory-- disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own.” (Foer, 2013)
Farmed animals are not the only victims of the industrialized animal slaughter in the U.S. There are not enough agents to inspect the conditions inside slaughterhouses, leaving industry to set rules and standards that most benefit them and their “bottom line”. Those who do the dangerous, stressful, demeaning work of killing tens of thousands of animals for others to consume are left unprotected.
“Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand, without all the science I've discussed, that something terribly wrong is happening. Our sustenance now comes from misery. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film. We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory-- disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own.”
Slaughterhouses are operated in remote or rural areas, far from the eyes of urban populations and those who don’t want to know how they get their meat, and slaughterhouse workers come from the most marginalized and vulnerable populations among us. Most are people of color from low-income communities. (https://www.kbia.org/post/largest-slaughterhouses-mostly-rural-communities#stream/0)
Once mostly African-American, many are now Latin-American. Thirty-eight percent are foreign-born, often recruited by the corporations for whom they work. Many are undocumented, knowingly hired by employers to meet high turnover rates. (https://southernspaces.org/2013/low-wage-legacies-race-and-golden-chicken-mississippi-where-contemporary-immigration-meets) Many others are convicted felons, often in “pre-release” programs, unable to find employment elsewhere. And finally, most are “at-will” employees--unprotected from being fired. Undocumented workers live in fear of ICE raids or deportation by employers. Under these circumstances, few are willing to report abuse or mistreatment on the job. (Slaughterhouse Workers:The Forgotten Victims of the Meat Industry)
Animal production for consumption by the developed world hurts the environment in the undeveloped world. Seventy percent of agricultural land and thirty percent of the global land surface devoted to animal production results in adverse effects on all aspects of environmental well-being. Biodiversity loss is extensive, with one-sixth of global species loss. The social cost to local, indigenous populations is extremely high, with widespread loss of local incomes due to the expansion of soybean production in former rain-forested areas in South America.
Relentless deforestation to support the meat production industry has resulted in the irretrievable loss of billions of acres of carbon-rich rainforests, and displacement of indigenous ways of living and disruption of long settled property rights has given rise to widespread poverty and social breakdown. Loss of life-sustaining resources includes the deterioration of water due to run-off from the vast amounts of artificial fertilizers and pesticides used to produce animal feed, the sharp rise in greenhouse gases from methane production of animals, and the waste and pollution generated from cattle housed in highly concentrated numbers, and discharges of ammonia and nitrous oxides connected with intensive cattle feeding. (Francis)
Meat-eating hurts the most vulnerable, disproportionately people of color. The U.S. alone grows enough feed for livestock to nourish 800 million human beings in the world who currently do not have enough to eat. The world produces enough food to feed everyone. Of 7.3 billion people in the world, 795 million suffer chronic undernourishment in 2016--and almost all of them live in developing countries. It does not have to be this way.
Meat-eating is a leading cause of climate change, producer of green gases, the reason for excessive water use, waste production, chemical pollution, enormous land use, rainforest deforestation, pollution of oceans, overfishing, and, as previously mentioned, species extinction.
Beef-eaters use 160 times more land resources than plant-eaters. Beef requires 88% of all U.S. land allocated to producing animal-based calories. In contrast, sustainable plant-based diets help people, animals, and the planet. The one acre of land needed to produce 250 pounds of beef could grow 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 53,000 pounds of potatoes, or 30,000 pounds of carrots. The average person who eats a plant-based diet can save 162,486 gallons a year and cut their carbon footprint in half. if every American stopped eating meat, we could redirect enough grain from the livestock system to feed 1.4 billion people.
For growing numbers of people, not eating meat is an ethical choice on behalf of fellow creatures who have no choice and no voice—human and nonhuman alike. It is about not supporting an industry that profits from the suffering of billions of animals and harms the earth and millions of humans in the process.
In closing, here is a quote my favorite humanitarian, Dr. Albert Schweitzer:
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.”
Great facts and strong quotes—wonderful job!!
Works Cited:
2018 U.S. Animal Kill Clock. 2018. Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. New York, Boston, London: Little, Brown & Company, 2013 Little, Brown & Company. Francis, Taylor &. "The Challenge of Common Pool Resources." Environment Magazine 29 April 2015. https://www.kbia.org/post/largest-slaughterhouses-mostly-rural-communities#stream/0. n.d. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/beef-eaters-plant-eaters-land-resources/. n.d. https://awfw.org/factory-farms/. n.d. https://listverse.com/2015/11/25/10-negative-effects-the-meat-industry-has-on-the-world/. n.d. https://southernspaces.org/2013/low-wage-legacies-race-and-golden-chicken-mississippi-where-contemporary-immigration-meets. n.d. Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals . New York: The Penguin Press, 2006. "Slaughterhouse Workers:The Forgotten Victims of the Meat Industry." 6 December 2017. www.livekindly.co/slaughterhouse-workers-victims-meat-industry/.
Cite this page
The Case for a Plant-Based Diet. (2019, Feb 12).
Retrieved November 5, 2025 , from
https://studydriver.com/2019/02/page/13/
The Vegetarian Diet
Today’s society views veganism as “negative.” There is a constant struggle between vegans and people who despise them. Individuals dislike vegetarians and vegans because of their opposing view on the food practices of most of the society. The non-vegetarian individuals believe that these practices are a very important aspect of what makes up their social identity. When one views this constant struggle between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, it somewhat portrays the ongoing debate about feminism. This is because in both situations, the vegetarians and the feminists both seem to be on the more logical side of the debate. We do not need to get into the debate about feminism, but we know that vegetarians and their diets, also known as a plant-based diet, seem to have no negative effects whatsoever. If we dig down deeper into why a plant-based diet is more beneficial than any other type of diet, we find that this diet prevents many different diseases and illnesses. The diet, if done right, also benefits local agriculture and the many small businesses that are not government-sponsored. This diet can also benefit the environment much more than humans think. Of course, one of the older reasons for switching to a vegan diet deals with the ethical side of the debate. There are a lot of humans in the world that do not think that animals deserve to be physically and emotionally harmed for food. But humans have been questioning whether we as are supposed to be killing animals for food for a long time now. All said, the health side is no doubt the most important reason for why one should go vegan.
According to nutritionist Michael F. Jacobson, at least one of every sixth deaths in the United States are caused by the poor dietary lifestyle of us humans. The average American citizen is more likely to die from a disease related to their diet and not getting enough physical activity than from smoking tobacco, homicides, and car accidents. The list goes on, but what exactly are these dietary “diseases?” Some of the major ones are different types of cancers, diabetes, heart diseases, and strokes. And how do we even know that this is true? Well, there has been research that proves that the consumption of meat and dairy products are critical “causes of chronic diseases” (Jacobson 21). There have also been studies showing that vegetarians live longer and are “less prone” to chronic diseases. Regarding the debate between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, who is morally right here? Sure, meat is good, but the long-term risks of consuming meat are just not worth consuming it regularly. There is a numerous amount of studies that meat-eaters are “more susceptible to heart disease” alone (Petter). Yes, it’s fine to have meat occasionally, but consuming it daily can lead to some health problems. As for people who have a diet mostly made up from meat, it doesn’t go quite well. For example, if someone were to just eat cooked meat, they would be lacking vitamin C. The only way to receive vitamin C from meat is by eating it raw. Doing this may increase vitamin C, which is good, but it would significantly increase one’s risk for bacterial diseases, depending on how fresh the meat is, of course. A sufficient way for us humans to gain a good amount of vitamin C to keep us healthy is by eating citrus fruits and certain vegetables (Bowler).
As Daniel Dombrowski states, the moral reason for not eating animals “held sway” for about a millennium, with a reemergence in the late 1960s/early 1970s. But this reemergence has sparked an ongoing contemporary debate regarding vegetarianism in the forms of “scholarly books and articles.” Anti-vegetarianism also dates to the days of when the bible was written. There are certain books from the bible that reference vegetarianism, with some actually “condemning” vegetarianism. In Genesis 9:3, after the Flood that destroyed all plant life, it was said that “Every creature that lives and moves shall be food for” humans. In a way, this seems to be opposing the practice of vegetarianism itself. All the research conducted by vegetarians over the years relating to vegetarian diets all seem to have “unconscious bias.” This is because every human has their own set of beliefs, and those beliefs make their research (more scientifically) unwise. But that does not necessarily mean that all research regarding vegetarianism is not credible (Why I Am Not a Vegetarian).
So, when exactly did people start to think a vegetarian diet was better for the body? Well, if we observe the origin of a plant-based diet, we find that it dates to 1500-500 B.C. where the Indo-Aryans who inhabited present-day India “encouraged vegetarianism due to religious reasons.” Various famous individuals such as Pythagoras and Leonardo da Vinci also refrained from eating meat (Blumenfeld). A century after Pythagoras’ existence, vegetarianism was linked to his name along with the contemporary debate. Pythagorean vegetarianism was founded on multiple principles, but the most important and interesting one is the religious term “transmigration.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, transmigration means “Passage of the soul at death into another body.” Pythagoreans believed that animals possessed souls that either have been or will be in a human body. In fact, he was so confident in his belief in transmigration, he admitted his own preexistence multiple times. But along with this belief in transmigration, problems arose, such as the question “if plants have souls like animals do, what are we to eat?” (Dombrowski 35). Pythagoras also considered beans to be very “dangerous to one’s health.” Along with his dislike for beans, came his dislike for meats. He considered both foods to encourage drowsiness, which was not what he wanted since he believed that too much sleep was “unhealthy” (Dombrowski 44). Over two thousand years after Pythagoras’ existence, those who refrained from eating meat were referred to as “Pythagoreans,” hence the term “Pythagorean vegetarianism” mentioned earlier.
Centuries after Pythagoras’ existence, what is still known today as the “Vegetarian Society” was founded in Great Britain in the mid-1800s (Blumenfeld). This society is responsible for coining the term “vegetarian” from the Latin word vegetus, which signifies “sound, whole, vital” officially in 1847 (Kellman 87). The organization is still going strong today, offering education and cooking classes to families as well as trying to influence future legislation regarding education relating to plant-based diets. In the early 20th century, Upton Sinclair spent his life experimenting with various diets such as only eating meat and going completely vegetarian for long periods of time. This then led to the published the famous novel “The Jungle” which had the original intent of solely exposing the “harsh conditions” of immigrant populations in the United States. But it became more recognized for exposing the major meat industries instead. As the U.S. troops were fighting in World War I, the FDA encouraged “Meatless Mondays” for the sole purpose of conserving meat supplies for the U.S. troops. However, this was not a campaign to make anyone go vegetarian, notice how the only purpose was to save meat products for the soldiers fighting across the seas. This campaign rose again when World War II came around three decades later, with the same intentions. After World War II, vegetarianism became very popular in the United States through the counterculture movement. The main goal of the vegetarian-aspect of the movement was to “promote social and environmental justice.” The term “Meatless Monday” however returned in 2003 when the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called for an initiative to reduce saturated fat in the American diet. This initiative was different because it tried to focus on the health and physical wellbeing of humans (Blumenfeld). Since then, the vegetarian movement has grown significantly through the research and the support of its members.
A tough question posed upon us humans today is “why do we still eat meat?” Most of the people who constantly eat meat will respond to that question saying, “I eat meat because I like it.” But saying that is like saying “I smoke cigarettes because I like them.” Because like cigarettes, meat is addicting. Some people just do not realize it. We know of the negative effects of eating meat along with the physical harm it can cause to our bodies. But we continue to consume it. Previous studies have shown that about 35 percent of individuals who switch to a vegetarian diet do so because of health reasons. An important factor regarding susceptibility to certain diseases is age. The older someone is, the more health problems they will face if they continue to eat meat. There are so many elements in meat that are considered harmful to the human body. Some examples are pesticide residues, pathogens, cholesterol, saturated fats, and hormones, just to name a few (Ion 354). Although the exposure to pesticides is very miniscule and its effects may be very rare, there is a greater risk of long-term exposure to these pesticides that may lead to diseases such as cancer or an impaired immune system. In a 2001 study, 181 million out of the 511 million pounds of pesticides were used on the crops that livestock consume. These pesticides are used for controlling weeds, insects, and fungi on crops. There are many different types of pesticides, but they are known to cause tumors in laboratory animals. This raises concern for a large risk on cancer for us humans (Jacobson 53).
Perhaps on the other side of all things, the animal rights group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, are taking a slightly different approach rather than just using statistics to promote a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. There are a lot of common sayings in this world that include “anti-animal language,” according to PETA. They have taken initiative to change these sayings to be more animal friendly. For example, the term “bring home the bacon” does not sit well with PETA. They believe it should be “bring home the bagels” (Gugliotta). Could this mean that they are taking it too far? It all seems unnecessary, because surely no one means any sort of harm against animals by using these sayings. If PETA really were trying to promote the safety and welfare of animals and a healthy vegetarian lifestyle, they would be doing beneficial research such as the research that nutritionists do, and not trying to change common sayings common in our culture today. If such a big nonprofit organization that has a lot of voice and influence, that influence can be committed to changing people’s diets and in the end their lifestyles. They are trying to work backwards and changing people’s lifestyles before they think about changing their diets, which is the more important issue. Diet is more important than lifestyle because it is essential to all humans every day. And a positive change in diet can lead to a positive change in the lifestyle of anyone.
To recap, the effects of switching to a plant-based diet are overwhelmingly beneficial. Not only would we improve the healthiness of ourselves, but we would also improve the healthiness of the environment. The meat and dairy industries have spent billions of dollars on advertising their products, and it has been successful. But we cannot continue to listen to them if we want to change ourselves. The changes can be small or large, but there are so many ways to change an individual’s diet. The concept of nutrition seems complex, but it is quite simple. Diets should be based on fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and healthy oils. Substances such as refined sugars, salt, white flour, and basically anything with preservatives in it should be avoided. If one wants to continue to eat animal products, make sure they are produced locally and humanely treated, along with making sure the animals are grass-fed only. After switching to a plant-based diet, one will see positive differences in their energy levels, sleep, strength, mood, and mental health. In the end, whether the reason why a person changes their diet is health, moral, or environmental, everybody wins.
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The Vegetarian Diet. (2019, Feb 12).
Retrieved November 5, 2025 , from
https://studydriver.com/2019/02/page/13/
Fad Diets and Eating Disorders
There is an undeniable certainty that in society there is a concerning amount of focus on how we look and what we eat. With magazines and blogs, such as Vogue and Goop, promoting diets and certain body types, of course there is pressure to look a certain way. These diets that are promoted, though have no scientific evidence that they actually are healthy for you and tend to rely more on pseudoscience, are called fad diets. These fad diets, such as the Clean Eating diet and Juice Cleanse, have shown to have a pattern of putting people into eating disorders. Because of this, fad diets should stop being promoted due to the consistent amount of eating disorders that follow behind them.
The Clean Eating diet is a fad diet that took popularity in 2018, described as “avoiding packaged and processed foods and eating food as close to its natural state as possible” (“Everything You Need to Know About Clean Eating” par 2). The diet’s actual food varies and depends on the actual person who is involved in it, as “some clean diets focus on plant-based foods and avoid all meat and dairy. Others opt for seasonal, local, organic, non-GMO foods, and ethically pasture-raised eggs, meat, and dairy. Many clean foods are gluten-free. The strictest diets also cut out alcohol and caffeine” (“Everything You Need to Know About Clean Eating” par 5). The overall feeling of the diet is to try and make you feel pure and clean. Now, Juice Cleanses are meant to help you “detox” your body from “toxins” in which you only “ consumes only fruit and vegetable juices” (Stoddard par 2) for several weeks.
Research shows though that there is no need to “detox our bodies” though as “your body already has a highly effective system for removing toxins, principally the liver and kidneys” (“Do You Really Need to ‘Detox’? p 1), as stated by Irwin H. Rosenberg, a Professor of Medicine and Nutrition at Tufts University. The idea of detoxing our bodies is extremely toxic to our mental health as that implies there is something disgusting with who are and how we look.
Many activivants who partake in such diets are shown to usually regret it due to the fad diet spiraling actually unhealthy eating habits. Two activants, Hannah Matthews and Naomi Teeter, tell us their experience with the Clean Eating Diet. Hannah Matthews discusses in her article how a “rigid diet became an all-consuming obsession” (Matthews par 1), specifically orthorexia and anorexia. Orthorexia is a eating disorder term coined in 1998 in which a person is “compulsively checking nutrition labels, an inability to eat any food that isn't designated ‘pure’, obsessively following ‘healthy lifestyle’ bloggers or social media figures, and showing an ‘unusual interest’ in what others are eating” (Matthews par 8), an eating disorder is shown to be connected to the Clean Eating diet. Matthews states that by trying to “restrict” (Matthews par ) her eating to make it “pure” (Matthews par 10), all she actually was doing was “imposing nutritional deficits” (Matthews par 10) on her body. Christy Harrison, a dietitian and certified eating counselor, claims that “orthorexia can often lead to anorexia” (Matthews par 9), and she discusses how many of her clients get “so afraid of foods they see as ‘processed’ and ‘unclean’ that they end up eating hardly anything” (Matthews par 9). Hannah Matthews goes back to discuss how her orthorexia spiraled into anorexia. She claims that she began to show all the signs of anorexia including “heart irregularities, dizziness and exhaustion, an inability to focus, and the loss of my period” (Matthews par 13), and it wasn’t until a friend stepped in that she got officially diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (Matthews par 13).
The doctors told Matthews that if she didn’t find a way to balance her diet, her “restrictive diet could end up killing her” (Matthews par 13). Since recovering from her eating disorder Matthews has tried to “clarify widespread misconceptions about the bad science of detoxes, cleanses, and elimination diets” (Matthews par 23), and keeping her loved ones safe. Naomi Teeter shares a different, but still tragic, story with us. Naomi Teeter, a nutritionist and weight loss coach, talks about how she almost gave her husband an eating disorder. Teeter discusses how she was “eating super-clean 90 percent of the time and worked out every morning” (Teeter par 1) while she first met her husband, Adrean, stating that she was also going through orthorexia without even knowing it. Teeter and her husband often ate meals together but Teeter would “openly shamed Adrean for poor food choices, which only upset him” (Teeter par 6). She would get a “look of disgust” (Teeter par 7) everytime Adrean ate anything sugary and sweet, simply due to her obsession with “proper nutrition” (Teeter par 2) caused by her orthorexia. Soon into their relationship, Teeter noticed how her husband “lost about 30 pounds” (Teeter par 9) and she assumed that this was all because of her “good influence and not the fact that he had stopped eating junk food to win my love and approval, things he thought were inextricably linked” (Teeter par 9).
Soon, these food obsessions became the source of arguments for the couple. Adrean confined to Naomi how discussing food with her made him “bothered” (Teeter par 10) and “made him feel guilty for his food choices” (Teeter par 10). Naomi Teeter states how she felt as though “he was cheating on me with food”, and then goes into depth of the secret binge eating the couple began to face (Teeter par 13). Soon, the couple talked and worked things out. Teeter noticed that as soon as she stopped obsessing over what they were eating, how much better both of them felt (Teeter par 16). “There's nothing wrong with wanting to get healthy and make better, smarter food choices” (Teeter par 18), states Teeter, “but when that desire turns into an obsession, it's time to take a step back and re-evaluate whether you're actually doing more harm than good” (Teeter par 18).
With influential websites, such as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, trying to sell you that such fad diets are the healthiest option for you, there is no wonder that people tend to fall into these dieting scams. As stated by EatingDisorderHope.com, “With the diet industry being a billion dollar business, many of their profits are made by promoting diets that promise instant results and fast weight loss” and that “while it may be tempting to follow popular diet scams, many of these trendy diets are not only ineffective but dangerous to one’s physical health” (“Dangers of Fad Diets.” par 1).
Fad diets tendency to spiral young women into detrimental eating disorders is a disgusting reflection upon our society and how we judge women on what they eat and how they look. By getting rid of the promotion of these pseudoscience based diets and instead promoting actual healthy diets that are approved by doctors, we may be able to combat the epidemic of eating disorders within young women and overall improve how women view themselves.
Cite this page
Fad Diets and Eating Disorders. (2019, Feb 12).
Retrieved November 5, 2025 , from
https://studydriver.com/2019/02/page/13/
Three Day Diet Reflection
For my three day diet reflection it was telling me I needed to drink more water, I did not have enough nutrients in my food throughout the day, and I needed to be more physically active. I also need to take more nutrients in my body other than the vitamins I take once day. Healthy eating is not always easy, food is addicting and sometimes we indulge in our cravings. Sometimes we are just so busy throughout our day we do not eat as much nutrients as we need to. Like for me for instance, doing the myfitnesspal app the calories I intake I needed to eat more throughout the day and healthier cause I would eat when I can and sometime its hours within the day. Than that's when I would go to fast food because it was fast and easy, but it also affected my physical health. Also in myfitnesspal app it said I should drink more water and I know I should because I would drink a lot soda before as well. To this day I would exercise and slowly see changes with myself and my body.
In the beginning of my diet to lose weight and improve health was one of my main goals, but it can be a bit overwhelming. For the next few weeks my plan is to exercises daily, changing my eating habits, and trying to eat as much nutrients as I can. Most importantly manage my time with everything to stop procrastinating and doing everything last minute. Now I make a checklist for myself and do as much as I can. There are bound to be challenges in your life whenever we start something new, especially when your used to doing a routine everyday. “You don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy, and you don’t have to change everything all at once—that usually only leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan” (Segal and Robinson, 2018). To this day I still get cravings, but when I do I either substitute my food with a healthier nourishment, for example when I crave ice cream i'll substitute it with yogurt with a lot of fruits on top. Managing my time, changing bad habits, and being physically active you have to stay motivated and positive this will only benefit yourself.
Changing your eating habits and working out was a bit difficult at first because it was like a roller coaster for me in the beginning, but as I was doing it constantly it would get easier day by day. I can see the changes in myself about feeling more confident, having more energy, boosting my mood, and most importantly improving my health. There are days when I would eat unhealthy but I also tried to portion my size and exercise the next day. During the week I will regulate my schedule in doing at least 2 miles on the elliptical or treadmill every Monday and Wednesday, for the other days I will try to increase my intensity of my work out and push myself little by little each day. While doing myfitnesspal app it does suggest that I should really intake more in my calories as well with proper nutrients in my food. Especially I should start meal prepping to also avoid myself from going to fast food and I will also be saving money as well.
Living a healthy lifestyle can be very stressful because we have times that we are tempted into making the wrong choices. We are human when it comes to failure we learn from our mistakes. Never give up on your goal it will increase your self determination and make you stronger in the future. Personally I still make good and bad choices in life, I still live a life to standards in what I can handle, I push myself to make me better as a whole. We learn from from our failure that challenges us to better, always strive to accomplishing your goal “you never lose either you win or you learn.”
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Low Carb or Low Fat Diet?
According to the CDC, (Central Disease Control and Prevention) , about 93.3 million adults suffer from obesity in America as of 2016. That is nearly 30% of the entire population of America. I say “suffer” because obesity acts and is treated like an epidemic, affecting an enormous amount of people and for their entire lives. This is so much of a burden, that the average obese adult will pay around $1,500 more in medical costs than a person of normal weight. A major cause of obesity in America is a poor choice of diet. From this observation, we can narrow it all down into one question, which is the best diet for weight loss. In searching for differentiated diets, I came across and decided to do research on two of the most common diets: low carb and low fat. Some think that this question would be an easy decision and go on to pick low carb because carbohydrate essentially means sugar, and sugar sounds culpable to weight gain, or they might pick low fat, because the word fat does not sound very nutritional or healthy to have on a diet, so they choose this diet to cut it out. It then turns into a large dispute between parties on which is a better option marginally, followed by experiments depending on weight loss over a period of time. However, it is much deeper than just weight loss and what sounds right. The real question to be asked here is: “Which diet will help me reach my intended weight AND still keep me healthy?”
Even though the main goal is to test overall health, a good basis is to see which of the diets produces the greatest percentage of weight loss. In an experiment conducted by multiple MDs of the New Balance Foundation, eight different subjects were closely monitored while on either a low carb or a low fat diet. According to the article: “?At 6 months, there are differences in percent weight loss, with low-carb diets leading in percent loss (12)”. Conversely, “low-carbohydrate diet was better with regard to dyslipidemia and glycemic control after adjustment for differences in weight loss. (12)” What this article is saying is that low carb not only produces a greater percentage of weight loss, it also deals with dyslipidemia, which is described as an abnormally elevated level of cholesterol or fats found in the bloodstream, a common symptom of obesity. What this means for low carb is that it is both efficient at producing weight loss and is an overall healthier diet compared to low fat.
One confusing distinction in dieting and bodily health is the difference between blood sugar and blood pressure. When you have high blood pressure, it is generally a side effect of diabetes and can be caused by overeating, not exercising enough, missing medicines, high stress levels, illness. Blood pressure is the force pushing against the artery walls, and if this force or pressure is too high, it can lead to a number of things, including: ?nosebleeds, headaches, or dizziness, heart attack, and a stroke. High blood pressure is more commonly referred to as hypertension.
Carbohydrates include foods like grain products, such as bread, crackers, pasta and rice. These carbs break down into glucose during the process of digestion, and glucose is what fuels our body and gives us energy. Even though carbohydrates in these experiments are proven to be healthier against cutting out fats from your diet, cutting out carbs still might be unhealthy for you. Despite a low carbohydrate diet being more beneficial in regard to symptoms like dyslipidemia, cutting out carbohydrates is cutting out your source of energy. In the opinion of Harvard Medical School, by going on a low carb diet “you deprive your body of a main source of fuel — and many essential nutrients that you need to stay healthy. (2)”
Many people confuse the likes of low-carb diets and low-sugar diet. A carbohydrate is either a starch, a sugar, or a fiber. What a low sugar diet is more focused on sugars that are added to a product or is referring to processed foods. Processing food is to change the form of a natural agricultural food or crop by using unnatural means. For example, potato chips are considered a processed food. This is because to create a potato chip, you would take a natural crop like a potato and cut and fry it unnaturally, creating the potato chip. A low sugar diet will commonly steer clear of these products, because they use preservatives and added sugars that are unhealthy altogether, while low carb diets demand abstinence from a wider variety of food. An article by Reid Health does not take a stance on low carb but says: “Bottom line, you should avoid added sugar, processed foods, refined grains (like white bread), sodas, other sugary drinks and sweets as much as possible. To help you look and feel your best, you should choose nutrient-dense, healthy carbohydrates. (5)”
While carbohydrates can be made out to be beneficial in most ways, it can at the same time be detrimental to your health. An article written by Harvard Medical School explains that are unprocessed carbohydrates are the same. Specifically that “All carbohydrates turn into glucose and raise our blood sugar. But some do it faster than others. Controlling blood glucose is important for weight management as well as diabetes control. (Harvard 3)” Judging from this statement, even though carbs are the human body’s main source of energy, carbohydrate intake at the very least should be monitored because it can cause a spectrum of complications caused by high blood sugar or hypertension. For example, hypertension can cause severe damage to your blood vessels connected to your brain, resulting in a stroke. What is trying to be said here is that something as small as deciding what you eat can lead to a variety of unfavorable outcomes, sometimes resulting in serious injury or even death. Watching what you eat, aspects like your carb intake and the difference of refined and regular carbs.
When people hear the word “fat”, it immediately receives a bad connotation in their mind. They are not entirely wrong in thinking this, as fats by general definition are described as ?a “natural oily or greasy substance occurring in animal bodies, especially when deposited as a layer under the skin or around certain organs.” This definition makes fat to be something gross or unhealthy. However, according to the MedicalNewsToday.Com article written by ?Christian Nordqvist?, fats are put into a different light. He says that “?Fat is a nutrient. It is crucial for normal body function, and without it, we could not live. Not only does fat supply us with energy, it also makes it possible for other nutrients to do their jobs. (?Nordqvist?)?” This puts a different take on what we think fats to be. If fats can be good, and are supposedly “necessary nutrients”, why are there so many low fat diets out there?
Many people truly believe that anything associated with fat is a bad thing for your body. An article from Harvard Health Publishing affirms this intuition. It states that “?Eating foods rich in trans ?fats? increases the amount of ?harmful? LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream and reduces the amount of beneficial HDL cholesterol. (Harvard 13)’’ It may be confusing the difference between fats and trans fats, but put simply, regular fats are natural, trans fats are created during processing. What this article points out is that trans fats specifically raise your LDL cholesterol and gets rid of HDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is what puts you at risk of a heart attack and other heart problems and HDL cholesterol is beneficial because it removes harmful cholesterol from the bloodstream. Fats, in this way are more harmful than beneficial towards your body because they heighten your level of unhealthy cholesterol and increase the risk of heart attacks and complications.
Most foods that we eat today commonly contain trans fats, so the spectrum of a low fat diet can be very extensive. On a low fat diet, rather than watching the specific food you are eating, you have to take it further and look into the “Nutrition Facts” of what you are eating. An informational article from the American Cancer Society shares some tips on watching your trans fat intake, saying that “?A good rule of thumb when you’re reading food labels: For every 100 calories, if the product has 3 grams of fat or less, it’s a low-fat product. This means 30% or less of the calories come from fat. (ACS 7)” This can can help you get a good idea of what you are looking for in the diet, as Nutrition Facts are available prior to purchase and are posted in most restaurants as well. This makes any low fat easier to follow, because you play less of a guessing game when you are watching what you eat.
Fat, whether or not a good thing or a bad thing, is irrefutably a major source of energy. In fact, fat contains more than twice the number of calories of an equal amount of carbohydrate or protein . In health.gov’s article about low fat diets, it shows how and why you should choose a low fat diet over any other diet, not just over a low carb diet. It gives the notion that at most 30% of the total calories you get from a meal should come from fats . Using the articles specific example, “Cutting back on fat can help you consume fewer calories. For example, at 2,000 calories per day, the suggested upper limit of calories from fat is about 600 calories. (1)” It is a widely known fact that the average man needs around 2,500 calories a day, but this author uses the figure 2,000 because ?the average man needs 2000 to lose one pound of weight per week (). Connecting these two facts, cutting back on fat is one way to lose weight because cutting back on fat is also reducing the amount of calories you consume, which is necessary for losing weight.
Food items that are low in fat/trans fat content include: ?egg whites or egg substitutes crab, white fish, shrimp, and light tuna (packed in water) chicken and turkey breast (no skin), or ground turkey breast (7). These items are only a handful of items still available on a fat restricting diet. Some of the more obvious option are most non-processed foods, as stated earlier that trans fats come from processing.
Some of the non-food-related benefits that fat has is insulation. Fat connects to muscles with a specialized connecting tissue. This fat then insulates the body, regulating the interior temperature (Harvard 2). While this is one of the only benefits fat has when attaching to your body, it is a huge factor in what looks and actually is healthy. This means that having a bit of fat on your body is not as much of a bad thing as people make it out to be. Even though a person “looks better” or looks skinnier than another person, that heavier person might be in a healthier condition than the other because the fat is not a bad thing, all it means is that it has to do with moderation. “Too much of a good thing isn’t such a good thing”.
Something to consider when comparing the two diets (low fat and low carb) is that the experiment shown earlier displayed that low carb was favorable to percent lost in weight, but showed over time showed that both diets ferred more or less the same when it came to loss percentage.
Many people often confuse the concepts of dieting and eating healthy. The difference between the two is actually quite simple. Dieting usually entails that the person partaking in the diet is trying to lose weight or lessen the symptoms of obesity, such as hypertension or dyslipidemia. Eating healthy is merely trying to put your body in a healthy state. Another aspect of eating healthy is that what you can eat is not nearly as restrictive as what you can eat with a diet is. Eating healthy has more to do with spiritual and mental health and dieting focuses on physical health and appearance. The concept of eating healthy is more abstract because you are setting a broad goal for yourself and dieting is constant revisiting and reevaluating. Put simply, when you are on a diet, you are trying to follow something and when you are eating healthy, you are following yourself.(Ross 11)
It is always hard to decide which diet to go on because even though you already have a goal in mind of what you want to weigh, what you want to look like, what you want to be able to do again, you might not yet understand your needs or what your body can physically handle. You might steer towards a low carb diet if you have high levels of blood sugar or hypertension, or if you have an unhealthy amount of fat or are solely trying to lose weight, you would go towards low fat because that way you reduce your calorie intake. It is very important to know what your body needs and is capable of because if you chose the wrong diet, you could end up hurting yourself. Before even considering going on a diet, you need to look at the situation from a logical standpoint. If you are 12 and under, unless you have special circumstances whereas you physically need to diet, it is probably not safe to diet because you have no idea what your body needs quite yet. When you are contemplating going on a diet, get a third and fourth opinion, typically from your doctor because their job is to make sure you are in good health. Taking all the risks and dangers is a very important aspect of making changes to your body.
In conducting this research, while seemingly indecisive, I can draw from the research and knowledge that I obtained, that a low fat diet diet is a more optimal option for a diet than a low carbohydrate diet. This comes from the beneficial aspects of each diet, Low Fat clearly outweighing Low Carb in many ways. One aspect of these benefits that convinced me to draw this conclusion is the fact that Low Fat not only lowers the level of LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream, it is already helping you lose weight by reducing your calorie intake. It also seems more favorable to follow than Low Carb because it uses specific figures and numbers to follow, available in restaurants and on labeled food, while with Low Carb it is more of a guessing game. Finally, the last notion of this diet that leads me to believe that this is the better diet is that in a Low Carb diet, you are cutting your main source of energy, while in a Low Fat, you are only cutting a partial source of energy, which was necessary to cut if you wanted to lose weight in the first place.
My hypothesis is going to look similar to an experiment previously mentioned in the research. If I test multiple people on the same diet and see the effects of the diet over time, I believe that the Low Fat diet will show more of a difference health and weight wise than the Low Carb diet because of the research I have conducted. Even though the bodies of the subjects will have different abilities and different needs, the LF diet will have a more visually apparent effect that a LC diet will.
References
Works Cited
1. “Choose a Diet Low in Fat, Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol.” ?Chapter 6 Fats?, health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga95/lowfat.htm. 2. Harvard Health Publishing. “Carbohydrates - Good or Bad for You?” ?Harvard Health Blog?, Harvard Health Publishing, www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/carbohydrates--good-or-bad-for-you. 3. Harvard Health Publishing. “The Truth about Fats: the Good, the Bad, and the in-Between.” Harvard Health Blog?, Harvard Health Publishing, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good. 4. “High Blood Pressure (Hypertension).” ?Mayo Clinic,? Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 May 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/symptoms-causes/syc-2037 3410. 5. Hospital, Reid. “| Reid Health - Right Beside You.” ?Reid Health?, www.reidhealth.org/carbohydrates-101-the-benefits-of-carbohydrates/. 6. “How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight?” ?Healthline?, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-many-calories-per-day. 7. “Low Fat Foods.” ?American Cancer Society,? www.cancer.org/healthy/eat-healthy-get-active/take-control-your-weight/low-fat-foods.ht ml. 8. Nordqvist, Christian. “Types of Fat: The Good and the Bad.” ?Medical News Today?, Johnson 11 MediLexicon International, 22 June 2017, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/141442.php. 9. “Overweight & Obesity.” ?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 Aug. 2018, www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html. 10. “Processed Foods What’s OK and What to Avoid.” ?Eat Right. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.,? www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/nutrition-facts-and-food-labels/processed-foods-whats-ok -and-what-to-avoid. 11. Ross, Harling. “The Difference Between Dieting and Eating Healthy.” ?Man Repeller,? 16 Aug. 2018, www.manrepeller.com/2018/01/difference-between-dieting-and-eating-healthy.html ?. 12. “Authors.” Prospective versus Retrospective Studies, sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/NutritionModules/Popular_Diets/Popular_Di ets_print.html. 13. “Authors.” Prospective versus Retrospective Studies, sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/NutritionModules/Popular_Diets/Popular_Di ets_print.html.
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Low Carb or Low Fat Diet?. (2019, Feb 12).
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The Rise in Popularity of High Protein Diets and the Possible Implications on Kidney Health
Introduction
In 2018, High protein diets for example Dukan, Atkins, The South Beach, Paleo and Ketogenic are becoming increasingly popular. The general public relates these diets to a healthy lifestyle choice. A High protein diet is one that includes protein in excess of Dietary Reference Intake recommendations for a person without kidney disease (0.8g/kg/day) (Poortmans and Dellieux, 2000). There are various tests that can be used to detect kidney function. The most used test in the healthcare industry is to find the GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) of the individual. This is determined by first finding the creatinine levels which is a waste product found in muscle tissues in the body. When this is found the GFR level can then be calculated using this value as well as factors such as age, gender and race. In Ireland the most used method for detecting and measuring CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) is to perform a five stage system test based on the individuals GFR levels over a period of time. The higher the stage goes the more severe the disease is.(HSE, 2018) In this study we try to find the correlation between high protein diets and the implications that could possibly be an outcome on kidney health.
The increase and popularity of protein diets
In recent years high protein diets have risen significantly in popularity. Proteins are essential nutrients, which are vital structural components of body tissues, for example muscle, hair and nails. Many individuals have now made a conscious choice to increase their protein consumption, and Nielsen has reported that 55% of households would regard high protein as an important attribute when buying food for their households (Nielsen, 2018).
Due to protein being a vital component of the human body, it has major health benefits, which are the causes for high protein diets significant rise in popularity (Du, 2018). One of the prime benefits being that in studies where high protein diets have been consumed, it has been concluded that high protein diets are effective in promoting fat loss and therefore helping to maintain, or achieve a healthy weight ((Phillips, 2006), (Blachier et al, 2018), (Murphy et al, 2013), (Oh and No, 2018)). One of the reasons proteins helps individuals who consume it in high amounts lose weight is because tends to have satiety enhancing effects (Du, 2018).
Protein is very popular amongst individuals who are also trying to increase their muscle mass. Protein promotes muscle growth because the building blocks of protein are amino acids, which help with cellular function and muscle repair. Therefore, if not enough protein is present in the diet, then there will not be an adequate supply of amino acids available for muscle metabolism and ongoing anabolism (Leal, 2018). Many studies have consistently showcased these findings that high protein diets lead to increased muscle mass ((Phillips, 2006), (Kadey, 2018)). In addition to this, high protein diets have been said to be advantageous for individuals hoping to increase their muscle strength (Kadey, 2018), and that these diets may improve training adaptations to exercise training (Antonio et al , 2016).
Pros and Cons of high protein diet
A High protein diet is one that includes protein in excess of Dietary Reference intake recommendations for a person without kidney disease (0.8g/kg/day). (Poortmans and Dellieux, 2000) An RDA is a general recommendation which doesn’t take many things into account calories, carbohydrate intake, biological sex, age, how active we are, how eco-friendly the protein sources intake is. Glomerular filtration rate is the most accurate overall measure of kidney function as recognised by the NFK Disease Outcome Quality Initiative. Fad diets have been known to influence high protein diets for weight loss. Only recently high protein diets have been compared to low protein diets for health reasons. High protein weight loss diets have existed in U.S. for years. Apart from their weight loss purpose there is a serious reason for concern as these High Protein diets clinically altar renal function. (Friedman, 2004). An Omni Trial study carried out in America states” high in protein diets can cause glomerular hyperfiltration, a potentially maladaptive response which may accelerate the progression of the disease”. Healthy participants involved in the Omni trial which replaces partial carbohydrates with protein had no kidney disease/problems prior to the trial. Participants keeping consistent weight followed 3 diets for 6 week periods with a 2-4-week washout period. The three diets consisted of carbohydrates, protein or unsaturated fats. Dietary protein making up to 15% of the carbohydrate and unsaturated fat diet or 25% protein of energy intake. Serum creatinine was recorded after each 6 week period. The protein diet when compared to the carbohydrate diet and unsaturated fat diet showed an increase in cystatin C-based Glomerular filtration. To conclude the Omni trial, Glomerular filtration rate increased following the High protein diet but there is uncertainty to whether high protein diets can lead to kidney disease in the long term. (Bernstein, Treyzon and Li, 2018) A high protein diet can be determined as follows: the total amount of protein, the percent of total calories as protein and the amount of protein(g) per kg of body weight. The Brenner hypothesis is the most cited reference in this topic. The hypothesis proposes that “the sustained rise in glomerular filtration rate due to a high consumption of protein is detrimental to kidney function accelerating a potential rise in renal disease”. (Tipton, 2011) In the UK, the normal intake of protein is 16% of energy intake for a sedentary adult which is around 64-88g/day at energy balance for both men and women. There is no one general consensus to state what a high protein diet is but it is referred to as a ‘protein-enriched’ in food industry for over 20% of protein from energy. (Johnstone, 2012) Long term clinical trials should be carried out to test increased protein diets in healthy subjects to determine how effective a high protein diet is and what the consequences are over a long period of time.
Detecting kidney health and causes of poor kidney health
The kidneys are a two bean-shaped organ that is found in vertebrates which is located on the right and left of the abdominal cavity. The kidneys have many functions, the most important being the removal of waste, toxins, sodium and water from the body. (NIDDK, 2018)
Recently in the past few years people have become more aware of kidney health as the incidence of CKD (chronic kidney disease) has doubled; especially among older individuals. This could possibly be because of the increasing prevalence of conditions such as diabetes and hypertension in recent years which is seen to damage the delicate blood vessels of the kidneys. (Liu H, 2010) One in ten American adults is now living with some degree of CKD, and kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States (NKUDIC, 2012) According to research done by (Stack et al, 2014) they were able to determine the overall prevalence of CKD in the Irish health system. They concluded that the prevalence of CKD in the Irish health system was 11.8% in addition to the rate of 4.5% in the general population. There was a higher prevalence of CKD in women than in men. (12.6% women versus 10.9% men). Another study which was done in the UK also discussed the prevalence of CKD and found that the prevalence of low excretory kidney function was 5.2% (Sutton et al, 2015)
There are many tests today in the healthcare industry that can be used to test the kidneys. Blood tests, Imaging tests, kidney biopsy and urine tests are various assessments used on kidneys. The most effective and widely used method would be detecting GFR in the blood. As mentioned in the introduction the most used method for detecting and measuring CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) in Ireland is to perform a five stage system test based on the individuals GFR levels over a three month period. The higher the stage goes the more severe the disease is. (HSE, 2018) The levels of creatinine which is a waste product in muscles is found in the blood and then this can be used to calculate GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) along with the individual’s sex, gender and age.
A study done in Australia by (M Ludlow et al,2014) assessed local GP’S on whether they were following correct current guidelines when detecting and managing the kidneys. They recommended similar tests as explained above such as serum creatinine test, urine albumin creatinine ratio. They also were able to identify key indicators of increased risk of CKD such as hypertension, smoking and family history of kidney failure.
Research done by (Sutton et al,2015) on the methods used in economic evaluations of chronic kidney disease used results of 2,671 papers that were identified in which 21 were included in the final review. Eighteen studies focused on proteinuria which is the presence of protein in the urine which in turn rises GFR. Three evaluated glomerular filtration rate testing and one included both tests.
Why protein is needed in the diet
Protein is essential in the diet. It assists with body growth and repair of cells. Without protein the body wouldn’t be able to function to its full capacity.
According to the British Nutrition Foundation , the recommended amount of protein is 0.75g per kilogram bodyweight per day. This recommendation varies for each individual depending on sex and age. Protein requirement is increased for women who are pregnant or are lactating(British Nutrition Foundation,2016).
In order for athletes to excel at their chosen sport the need for protein in the diet is vital. To prevent muscle damage, an athletes protein intake would be larger amount than an ordinary individual. An athletes protein intake should be in the range of 10-15% of their total dietary intake (Urdampilleta et al, 2014). An excess of 2g of protein can be damaging to the athletes performance.
The National Kidney Foundation (2018) explains that the more protein digested the more the kidneys have to filter which puts stress on them. Diets with high protein content can be damaging to an individual’s health. High protein content is associated with the increase of Glomerular Hypofiltration, ( Friedman et al, 2010).
Discussion
With a protein enriched diet, evidenced based research and trials carried out show an increase in Glomerular filtration rates in addition to a high protein diet. Creatinine clearance is the measure of glomerular filtration rate. From reviewing this argument, it is shown to be a controversial topic as although a high protein diet is seen to increase GFR there is no evidence based data to state that the kidneys will suffer renal damage in addition to a high protein dietary lifestyle. Although a rise Glomerular filtration rate increases stress on the kidneys to filter more fluid which in long term may degrade kidney health. After extensive research regarding this particular field we conclude, that in order to accurate evidence based data to state the whether the effect of high protein influences kidney health. Long term research/trials must be conducted on this topic to support the hypothesis.
Conclusion
In conclusion to the argument ‘The Rise in popularity of high protein diets and the possible implications on kidney health’, there is no scientific evidence to prove high protein damages the kidney over short periods of time, but research shows that high protein does have an effect on GFR which in long term trials may result in damaging outcomes.
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Kidney Disease Statistics for the United States. Available at: https://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/kustats/#1. Last updated 11/15/2012. [Accessed 9 Nov 2018] Nutrition.org.uk. (2018). Nutrition Requirements. [online] Available at: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/attachments/article/234/Nutrition%20Requirements_Revised%20Oct%202016.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018]. Oh, C. and No, J. (2018). Appropriate protein intake is one strategy in the management of metabolic syndrome in Korean elderly to mitigate changes in body composition. Nutrition Research, 51, pp.21-28. Phillips, S. (2006). Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to metabolic advantage. Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism. 31 (6), p647-649. Poortmans, J. and Dellieux, O. (2000). ‘Do Regular High Protein Diets Have Potential Health Risks on kidney function in athletes?’. [online] International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism. Available at: https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/pdf/10.1123/ijsnem.10.1.28 [Accessed 8 Nov. 2018]. SuttonAJ,BrehenyK,DeeksJ,KhuntiK, SharpeC,OttridgeRS,etal.(2015)MethodsUsedin EconomicEvaluationsofChronicKidneyDisease Testing—ASystematicReview.PLoSONE10(10): e0140063.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.014006 [Accessed 9 Nov 2018] Tipton, K. (2011). Efficacy and consequences of very-high-protein diets for athletes and exercisers. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, [online] 70(02), pp.205-214. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/efficacy-and-consequences-of-veryhighprotein-diets-for-athletes-and-exercisers/E4773A654FFC8F640299821A13D1A368/core-reader [Accessed 7 Nov. 2018]. Urdampilleta. A, Vicent-Salar. N, Martinez- Sanz. J. M.(2014). Protein needs in athletes and dietary-nutrition guidelines to gain muscle mass, Revista Española de Nutrición Humana y Diet©tica, 16(1).
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The Rise in Popularity of High Protein Diets and the Possible Implications on Kidney Health. (2019, Feb 12).
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Observed Autism Behaviors
Purpose of Research
For our project we chose to observe behavior in children with Autism, specifically children who communicate both verbally and non-verbally. We wanted to see whether they would interact with others or not. As well as if they would play or interact with their other devices or toys.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Behaviors of People with ASD
ASD is a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges in with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communications. Some children may also have sensory issues. These can include aversions to certain sights, sounds, and other sensations. It impacts an estimated 1 in 59 children. Diagnosing can begin at 18 months, but most medical professionals wait until the child is two to three years old to diagnose.
Children with Autism often struggle with nonverbal behaviors, as well as joint attention. Joint attention is the failure to respond to gaze or pointing at another person. Most children with ASD will not develop functional speech. Verbal speech in children with ASD often has an odd or inappropriate pitch and may sound toneless or mechanical. These children also have repetitive behaviors. They have few changes in behavior. Their actions and phrases are repeated extremely methodically in an OCD like manner.
Observation Contexts
We observed for an hour. We kept observations in 5 minute intervals. We chose a naturalistic observation method. We observed at an afterschool care program for children with special needs called After Stars After School in a classroom called Autism Academy. This isn’t as structured as a typical classroom. All of the children in the classroom are on the Autism Spectrum to the extent of being in a special education classroom at school. Most of the children have their own area they tend to stay. There were about 9 children in the room at the height of the activity, but there are typically 4-6. At the height there were also 4 adults in the room, but there are typically 2-3. We used a pen and paper to record our observations, and our phones to keep up with the time.
Focal Child Background
The child was an 11 year old Caucasian male in the 6th grade. He is non-verbal. He will ask for certain things. However, he often needs prompting to ask for things properly. He also repeats phrases and words methodically.
Observation
When the student got there he sat on a small sofa in the corner by himself with noise canceling headphones on and watching movie clips on his tablet. He continued to watch clips of movies and make train noises. He began to pinch and rub his eyelids, showing signs of stress because another child was yelling and being extremely loud. He shouted “poor dog” and “hard to tell.” Interaction was offered, but he declined. More students entered the room and he begins to cry. The caregiver offered a green sucker, which is his favorite. I took his tablet away to remove some stimulus, but left his headphones on to continue to block out some of the noise. He then began to grab his gum and tooth and the caregiver gave him the sucker. He then began to calm down and ate the sucker. He momentarily sobbed, but then went back to making vocal noises. Then he began to cry again while holding his front tooth and making muffled noises. He stopped crying momentarily, and then started again. The caregiver told him she would text his dad to come pick him up. He calmed down again and the tablet was given back. He went back to holding his tooth and then began to laugh. The caregiver then said, “Now you’re laughing,” and he responded, “No.” He then went back to watching videos on his tablet. He says, “Where’s the iceberg?” and “Penguins.” At around 4:45 he began crying again and said “No,” without anyone having said anything to him. He calms back down and begins scrubbing through the scene of a movie. He finally got up from where he was sitting and yells “Today, today,” in a dramatic tone and varying volumes. The caregivers repeat today with him. He then tries to take a train from another child, the child then takes it right back. He then sits on the floor near where he was and dumps out a basket of toys. He interchangeably says “today,” and “no.” He then continued to smile and play with the toys on the floor.
Findings
We found that the student tends to have certain phrases and sayings, actions, and behaviors based on his different moods that we observed. The phrases he repeats are often from movies he watches or things he hears frequently from caregivers, teachers, and parents. The student was less likely to interact with others when upset. However, when he was happy he put the tablet down and played with other objects, like the trains and basket full of toys. He also represents the population of people with autism who are strongly affected by loud noises. This can be seen in the signs of stress and crying that began when the other student in the classroom began to yell.
Discussion
We faced a few challenges along the way. At the beginning we weren’t sure what behaviors we wanted to observe because the spectrum of autism is so broad. We also weren’t able to go to our original location because of conflicting time schedules. During the observation I faced the challenge of working while observing. It was difficult for me to stay impartial because when my student starts crying I just wanted to stop the observation and help him out. I of course was not able to do that but it was difficult for me to just watch and write the time and behavior down. I did take time to interact and check-in with him a few times. At the end of the day, my student’s happiness came first, so our observation might have been slightly biased. Outside of the issues with the observation, we did not know whether or not the child had any early intervention.
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Observed Autism Behaviors. (2019, Feb 10).
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Death Penalty and Euthanasia
The two controversial topics that have grasped people’s attention are euthanasia and death penalization. The subject itself has roots that have been developed from the beginning of humankind. It is interesting to learn about this subject of matter because it may be useful to know in certain situations. Also, learning if there is a right or wrong in such actions will provide more perspectives on this matter. The decision of whether a person should live or die depends on the state laws. There are both rivals and followers of the subject. However, no matter how different opinions are, the state holds the authority of making this decision. Death penalization and euthanasia are serious matters that have not been taken lightly throughout time. State laws have been created for reasons, whether valid to society or not, it holds power beyond human control.
The act of euthanasia was known and conducted by people in the Roman Empire. Since it wasn’t in conflict with moral standards at the time, people were not condemning or judging those who performed it . Whether it is a sentence for a crime or an illness taking over, who has the right to decide if a person’s life should continue or end. Can anyone measure the pain that one goes through while lying in bed unable to move?
Only a few states in the USA legalized euthanasia, but many more states have the action of death penalization. Is it truly fair for people who did not commit any crimes to go through pain and suffering, and not be able to leave this world in peace? But people who committed a crime sentenced to death under “merciful” circumstances. The word “euthanasia” derived from the Greek words that translate as “easy death” and means helping terminally ill persons to die in a fairly painless way . As in the case of a death penalization, euthanasia has its supporters and opponents. Whether it is one or the other depends on several facts, such as personal opinion, culture of the person that was brought up, religion that one practices, and circumstances surrounding the decision. Usually, if the decease causes the unbearable physical and mental pain, that person will ask to be killed, but if this factor is eliminated, then there is no reason to die. When a person asks to kill him or herself, it might be a cry for help in painful circumstances, whether it is mental or physical.
Supporters of death penalization have several arguments justifying the state-sanctioned murder of those who take lives away. There is an old law that states, “tooth for tooth, eye for eye”. Then there is the practical argument stating that the death sentence keeps many criminals from being murdered. In addition, death penalization prevents recurrence in regards to murderers because if they are released from prison, there is a high chance that they will commit crimes again. Prison does not guarantee a mental fix for people who commit crimes such as man slaughter and or murder. The third argument is also pragmatic, and inferior because the state saves money by killing murderers. Instead of keeping them in prison for a lifetime expectancy, societies taxes and certain fees are contributed to subjects of this matter.
The rivals state two ethical arguments, which consist of the following. In modern democracy, punishment should not only be punitive but should also try to reeducate a criminal to enable him to live in a society with others. While this argument is unconditional, those who have heard about modern prisons recognize that many inmates are immune to re-education, which is a fact that cannot be explained solely by conditions of custody. The second ethical argument is based on the commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” which also warns states alongside to murder. The strength of this argument is undermined by the fact that the state may resort to the death penalization to prevent severe crimes, or to prevent rebellion.
Opponents of the death penalization also rely on utilitarian disagreements because it is irreversible. If the offender turns out to be innocent, it is no longer possible to abandon the punishment. In addition, objectors harshly criticize the preventive effect of the death penalty.
Criminologists have confirmed by statistics that in those US states where the death penalty is allowed, the number of serious crimes has not decreased. Other criminologists, however, argue that such a conclusion, if it has sufficient justification, should apply to all criminal law: offenses are committed every day; nevertheless, if we did not have such prohibiting norms, the number of crimes would be even greater. In their view, capital punishment serves, at least, to limit people's even thinking of a murder. Hence, from the point of view of consistent atheistic and materialistic consciousness, the death penalty is fundamentally permissible: imprisonment for life, as an alternative, is completely meaningless from this point of view. And in general: "" If there is no God, then everything is allowed, ""and the matter is only a reasonable, balanced determination of the degree of social expediency of certain measures.""
From the viewpoint of a Christian religion, death penalization must be recognized as unconditionally unacceptable, since it signifies violence against a person and the audacity of the final sentence to a person in his metaphysical sense . Additionally, it is necessary to recognize the clear fact that the state has the right to use death penalty, as well as to dispose of the lives of its citizens in other forms (conscription for military service with the subsequent participation in hostilities). At the same time, the state should not be thought of as irresponsible and alien force for citizens, but as the highest expression of the will and life of the people, as a political and legal realization of the country. The acknowledgement of lawful rights of the state to use death penalty means it is acceptable, but does not yet say anything in favor of its necessity . It is possible that the state, having the authority to death penalty, should nevertheless, refrain from using it. This arrangement should be used at least in peacetime: the death penalization, in accordance with this point of view, is acceptable, but it is better not use it.
The opinions in favor of such a refusal are: the unavoidable risk of judicial errors, the need for executioners, the doubtful effectiveness of the death penalty, humanistic considerations. At the same time, the first three arguments that have a rational sense and a clear rationale, as a rule, come to the fore, and ""humanistic considerations"" play, at first glance, the role of some emotional reinforcement. In fact, they are the ones that determine the refusal of the “civilized world” from the death penalty. The risk of judicial errors, indeed, has always been, is and will be, the malice of the executioner's ""work"", and, could the death penalty truly ever reduce the crime. However, never in the whole history of mankind, these arguments were considered as a possible reason for refusing the death penalty. If it was canceled at any time, it was only due to the impulse of the moral sentiments of individual rulers. Looking at history, it is necessary to recognize the legislative consolidation of the death penalty as a rule from which exceptions were extremely rare.
Why is the modern ""civilized world"" so stubbornly seeking to ban the death penalty? Perhaps crime has decreased, and social standards softened? Nothing of the kind, and rather the opposite. And even if that were so, there would be no need to legally stop the death penalty: after all, in a society of law-abiding people with a high legal conscience, it would be difficult for anyone that the death penalization is provided for by law for those crimes which nobody commits? The real reason for the movement of the modern ""civilized world"" to the elimination of the death penalization lies in its pacification and loss of the spiritual dimension, in materialism and the cult of bodily life, which have become both mass and state ideology .
On the one hand, indeed, materialism means that “There is no God and everything is allowed,” that is, since man is nothing more than a material bio-object reflecting on the bone skeleton and covered with natural leather on the outside, through brain impulses to the extent that other material objects of a similar device do not and cannot have any reasonable grounds to protest against the cessation of some specific physiological processes in this biosystem, especially since this does not mean wow ""destruction"" nothing is destroyed (the soul is not there, and no ""world"" does not ""die"" together with man), but just matter passes into other forms of its eternal movement. But on the other hand, since this complex of specific physiological processes in the biomass that makes up the body, life for the materialist is exhausted, the physiological well-being and integrity of the body becomes for him a fundamental value. On the question of life and death, materialism demonstrates a very bad ""dialectic."" It is materialism, which is not even able to raise (not just solve) the question of the meaning of life, materialism, which is not even able to distinguish life from death at the conceptual level (both of which are “movements of matter”), it is he who clings convulsively to life, and is afraid of panic to think about death, although there is no meaning for him either in life or in death.
A humanistic and kind-hearted materialist extends these instincts of his own and beyond his individual physiological process - according to the feeling of solidarity he is pleased with someone's successful physiology and terrifies someone's transition to other forms of the movement of matter. It is not the Christian love for one’s neighbor that repels him from the death penalization, but the irrational fear of approaching the topic of death itself - fear threatening the tranquility of his own physiological process. A materialist, becoming humane and sympathetic, becomes completely powerless to decide anything in matters of life and death. And the more he clings to life — reduced to the physiology of his biomass — the more truly he lives his life — taken in the fullness of this word — loses: “For who wants to save his soul, he will lose it, and who will lose his soul for my sake and the gospel he will save her ”(“ The Soul ”Christ calls life here). For the religious-philosophical view, the prospect of eternity is open, and only in this perspective can fundamental solutions to human existence be obtained. The problem of the death penalty should also be comprehended, first of all, in these limiting grounds. There is no unity among believers regarding this problem.
Commenting on the initiatives of the State Duma to toughen the punishment for pedophiles, “Pedophiles should be shot”: Russian parliamentarians insist on toughening penalties for committing sexual crimes. Priests expressed different opinions (Muslims were more unanimous in endorsing the death penalty). Punishment for pedophiles should be inevitable: Orthodox priests and muftis commented on the proposal to introduce the death penalization for pedophile rapists. Along with unconditional support for the death penalty right up to the Lynch courts, there are fair indications that the main attention should be paid not to the consequences, but to the causes - to propaganda of bribery in the media, and also sounds ""rather negative"" attitude moratorium. The priest and academic archpriest Gleb Kaleda, who for several years practiced suicide bombers in Butyrka, believed that people in prison often radically change their views, repenting of atrocities committed. And it turns out that we sentence one person to the death penalty, and we shoot a completely different one. ”
However, it is this circumstance that, in our opinion, serves as a reason not as the intent of punishment is to punish a person exactly in his spiritual, moral and physical condition, in which he did a crime? Is it not the meaning and the most important task of punishment (not always, however, attainable by the most important task) the repentance of a criminal, his spiritual and moral transformation? What to do if for many people who are hardened in sin, repentance is impossible without facing the inevitable death? The testimony of Archpriest Gleb Kaleda about the prevalence of repentance among suicide bombers, so that “we sentence one person to death, and we shoot a completely different one,” is, in our opinion, evidence of the achievement of the most important task (super task!) Of criminal punishment. If it were as successful as the death penalty (more precisely, waiting for it), caused spiritual and moral transformation of the criminal other types of punishment, the crime would be reduced not only by times, but by orders of magnitude. At the same time, of course, we must not forget that even the death penalty does not guarantee a repentance.
The only drawback is that people transformed by the expectation of the death penalty do not return to societies. However, this deficiency is more than offset by the acquisition: the saved soul of man. If, indeed, we execute a “completely different” person, if he repented and changed, becoming another, then eternity departs no longer a criminal, but a righteous person — the first person to enter paradise was the repentant robber. If even the imminent death inevitably could not change the souls of the criminal, then his failure to return to society can hardly upset anyone.
It would be absolutely fabulously wonderful if the condemned man, after going through the horror of inevitable death and being reborn in repentance, would have received pardon and would have returned to a different person after all, but this cannot be the rule. In order for the transformative potential of the death penalty to be revealed, the sentence should not be a joke, and death is not just probable, but it is inevitable. And even in this case, having pardoned the suicide bomber, we cannot know for sure who he had pardoned — another person who had changed in repentance, or a person who was simply frightened, capable, taking a breath, to new crimes, or even embittered by the more moral restraints.
It must be said about the imminent risk of judicial errors, which is always cited as the most serious argument against the use of the death penalty. Indeed, there is no guarantee against such errors, however, as has already been said, this argument has never, in the whole history of mankind, been considered as the reason for refusing the death penalty. The necessity of not even measuring seven times, but measuring out seventy times seven times, before passing a death sentence on a person, is obvious. But it is also so obvious that physical death is not the absolute evil that humanistic materialism sees in it. If everything ends with physical death, then nothing at all makes sense: neither life nor death, nor truth, nor suffering, nor love, nor punishment. If death is a transition to eternity, if God will keep the world and His love does not leave anyone, even those who have renounced it, - then there is no reason to fall into catalepsy from contact with the theme of suffering and death of the innocent. At the same time, we are far from the irresponsible position that atheism ascribes to the believing consciousness: they say, we will write everything down to God, and no problems.
The theme of innocent suffering and death is a huge, deepest topic of religious thought. The presence in the law of capital punishment in the form of the death penalization is normal for a morally healthy society. The non-use of this measure as superfluous is an indicator of the criminological well-being of society. The refusal to legislate the death penalization, even in relation to crimes that clearly outrage public opinion and conscience, can only be regarded as a shameful weakness of the moral position of the legislator. The general principle of building a healthy sense of justice was perfectly expressed by F.M. Dostoevsky: “Laws should be, perhaps, more severe, and the public atmosphere should be softer.” So far, in the light of the elimination of the death penalization, everything looks "exactly the opposite."
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Euthanasia in the Roman Catholic Church Faith and Tradition
Brittany Maynard found out she was dying when she was twenty-nine years old. Newly married and full of life, Maynard learned that she had terminal brain cancer in January of 2014. In April, after multiple unsuccessful surgeries, she was given six months to live. She considered dying in hospice care, but balked at the image of her family surrounding her bedside, watching her die an agonizingly slow and painful death. Instead, Maynard and her husband moved to Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide—a specific type of euthanasia—is legal. She chose to pass away in November of 2014 after taking the lethal prescription prescribed by her doctor (CNN 2014). This is the reality of euthanasia in the twenty-first century, although it has existed for thousands of years; throughout classical antiquity, euthanasia was a widely accepted practice.
However, with the dawn of Christianity and Roman Catholicism, society’s view of euthanasia began to sour. While the Roman Catholic Church experienced the Reformation, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and postmodernity, it remained steadfast in its condemnation of euthanasia. Only in recent years—notably the last two decades—has euthanasia again began to gain widespread traction. Nevertheless, from a strictly Roman Catholic perspective, euthanasia is morally unacceptable regardless of the circumstances; the intentional death of any human being is sinful due to the Christian belief of God’s sovereignty, the Church’s teaching on suicide and homicide, and the Catholic philosophy of suffering. These beliefs, however, do not fully align with the shared reality and experience—the sensus fidelium—of many church members, signalling a failure of reception.
From an etymological standpoint, euthanasia has an extensive history. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word comes from the Greek eu-, meaning “well,” and thanatos, meaning “death.” The word first appeared in its anglicized form in 1646, and is currently defined as “a gentle and easy death” (OED n.1.). This definition, however, fails to acknowledge particular aspects of euthanasia that are essential in understanding its meaning today. The definition posed by the Euthanasia Society of America and set forth in The Morality of Mercy Killing, written by Reverend Joseph V. Sullivan and published in 1950, is more appropriately nuanced: “the termination of human life by painless means for the purpose of ending severe physical suffering” (3). This definition is preferred for two reasons. First, it emphasizes action; euthanasia is not just death itself, but the act that causes this death. The Roman Catholic Church does the same in its own definition of euthanasia: “mercy killing” (Sacred Congregation 6). Second, it clarifies the specific purpose of euthanasia, which is to end a patient’s pain and suffering.
This comprehensive definition of euthanasia can be broken down further into various different subsets: voluntary, involuntary, passive, and active. An article from the database of the United States National Library of Medicine, titled Euthanasia: Right to Life vs. Right to Die, clearly defines these terms. The first two terms regard who consents to the procedure. Voluntary euthanasia is conducted with the patient’s consent, while involuntary euthanasia is conducted without. Involuntary euthanasia is only invoked when the patient—like someone in a coma—is completely and utterly incapable of making the decision themselves.
The latter two terms, passive and active euthanasia, acknowledge how the procedure is actually accomplished. Passive euthanasia is carried out by withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment from the patient, while active euthanasia is carried out by intentionally introducing a lethal force to end the patient’s life (Chaturvedi and Math 1). Active euthanasia can be broken down even further, and this distinction rests on who ultimately administers the lethal force. If the patient administers it themselves, they are performing physician-assisted suicide; if the doctor administers it to the patient, they are performing active euthanasia (Dixon 3).
The concept of euthanasia is as old as the word itself. In A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, Ian Dowbiggin asserts that, in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, “there was widespread support for voluntary death as opposed to prolonged agony” (3). In Greece, philosophers such as Plutarch, Plato, and Aristotle condoned—if not outright encouraged—the practice of euthanasia (Sullivan 7). Reverend Sullivan observes that “these men condemn suicide and homicide, and yet they view euthanasia as not only permissible but under certain circumstances as the ideal” (7). Like its Grecian counterpart, the Roman Empire’s attitude towards euthanasia was both reflected in and influenced by the writings of its moral philosophers. One such man, Seneca the Younger, explicitly advocates for euthanasia in his piece Epistulae morales LXX:
If one death is accompanied by torture, and the other is simple and easy, why not snatch the latter? Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage ... so shall I choose my death when I am about to depart from life. Everyone ought to make his life acceptable to others besides himself, but his death to himself alone. (10)
What Seneca and his Greek predecessors could not have predicted was the conception and subsequent domination of Christianity. This new religion believed in God’s absolute sovereignty over life and death. In the Old Testament, God declares, “It is I who put to death and I who give life” (Deut 32:39). Within this context, Seneca’s conviction that his death is “to himself alone” completely loses its accuracy; since God grants every man and woman the ability to live, it is only His to take away. This idea of God’s complete and utter sovereignty is reflected in the Statement on Euthanasia, issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in September of 1991. The document defines life as “a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion” (4). This distinction between stewardship and mastery is necessary. As stewards, humans act as attendants to their own bodies; they oversee the daily operations of life. However, God as master has the ultimate and final decision-making power. Thus, to kill someone is to blatantly “reject God's sovereignty and loving plan” (Sacred Congregation 5). Through this understanding, euthanasia directly and blasphemously contradicts God’s will.
Though Greek philosophers accepted euthanasia and denounced homicide and suicide, the Catholic Church makes no such distinction. Active euthanasia is immoral because it is considered suicide; passive euthanasia is immoral because it is considered homicide. In certain instances, the procedure could be considered both. Naturally, this contributes to the Church’s argument against euthanasia. Suicide in the Christian tradition dates back to the Old Testament, in which four people—Samson, Saul, Abimelech, and Achitephel—commit suicide without reprehension (16). Despite this neutral biblical background, the Church has a history of considering suicide to be one of the gravest sins an individual can commit. As Joseph Bayly explains, “at one time the church taught that suicide was the greatest sin, greater even than murder. The reason: there is no opportunity to repent afterward” (74). Repentance is a deeply fundamental aspect of Christianity; to die without it is to risk the promise of eternal salvation. Homicide is far less complex than suicide. It is condemned outright in the Bible; to kill is to break one of the ten commandments, the most basic set of moral principles that humans must follow.
The sole purpose of euthanasia, as previously determined, is to bring an end to a person’s intense physical suffering. The Church’s own definition of euthanasia—“mercy killing”—implies a compassionate urge to release those suffering from their pain. However, the Catholic Church’s philosophy of suffering directly opposes this concept. Suffering is not meant to incite dread, and it should not be escaped; instead it symbolizes the devotion of an individual to God. As Pope John Paul II explains in Salvifici Doloris, to suffer is to share in Christ’s death and redemption (19). Jesus died a gruesome and painful death on the cross, and to suffer is to participate in this shared experience. As Reverend Sullivan explains, “we can never be like [God] in power or dignity. We can, however, become like him in our suffering. In other words, by suffering we become God-like” (75, 76). By participating in this practice of suffering, Christians can understand the pain and sacrifice of our God.
Ultimately, the church’s teaching is explicitly and unforgivingly clear in its condemnation of euthanasia as a “violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity” (Sacred Congregation 6). This teaching, however, fails to properly align with the lived experience of the laity. Movements to legalize euthanasia have been rapidly gaining momentum within the last twenty years, and this shift in perspective has manifested into approved ballot measures, court case victories, and effective state legislation.
In 1994, Oregon became the first state to legalize some form of euthanasia—in this case, physician-assisted suicide—by passing the Death with Dignity Act. It was implemented in 1997 (Oregon Department of Education 2018). Since then, Washington D.C. and six other states—California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington—have followed suit. In 2017, a Gallup poll found that 73% of Americans support euthanasia, supporting the recent trend of legalization. This rate rose to 87% when focusing on people who rarely, if ever, attend church; it dropped to 55% when focusing on weekly churchgoers (Gallup 2017). This third figure is alarmingly high: over half of churchgoers disagree with the Church on an issue that the hierarchy deems irrefutable.
To the Roman Catholic Church, euthanasia is not a controversy at all. The Church’s argument, as outlined above, relies on ancient scripture, papal and curial documents, centuries of established Christian values, and a milenia of tradition. Yet there still exists this massive inconsistency between doctrine and the shared belief of the laity. This discrepancy signals a failure of the hierarchy. The Church has a responsibility to listen to its lay people and discern the sensus fidelium—Latin for “the sense of the faithful”—which means the “universal consent in matters of faith and morals” (CCC 28).
The congregation shares in the authority of church beliefs as a collective body, because each individual participates and shares in the gift of life and faith. If half of this body is in contention with the other, there is no “universal consent,” and the teaching may need to be reevaluated. This dissonance could also signal an issue with reception, which goes hand-in-hand with the sensus fidelium. The church is obligated to communicate its teachings with its laity; a teaching has only been fully received when the entire church body accepts it, based on a common experience of faith in the Holy Spirit. If this common experience of faith—the sensus fidelium—is not achieved, full reception is impossible. With 55% of churchgoers disagreeing with the Church on euthanasia, it is safe to argue that the Church either failed to properly discern the sensus fidelium or failed to properly communicate its teaching and demonstrate its beneficiality.
In the last century, the Church has made one significant adjustment to its doctrine regarding end-of-life care. This attempt to—partially—realign church doctrine with the laity’s sensus fidelium appears in the Declaration on Euthanasia. The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declares:
When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted. (8)
While this situation could easily fall under the umbrella of euthanasia, the document is careful to differentiate between the two. Passive euthanasia is the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, some forms of which the church considers “normal care.” The situation laid out in the document only allows for the discontinuation of what Pope Francis defines as “overzealous treatment” or “disproportionate measures” (5, 8). Passive euthanasia is also explicitly intended to cause death; this proposed scenario is not explicitly meant to cause death, but rather to allow God’s plan to take its natural course. Subtleties aside, this is a progressive example of the Church’s ability to reframe its argument to better suit its laity, while still remaining true to its core values and beliefs.
Euthanasia is a complex and multidimensional issue with a long and rocky history. Today the Church continues its tradition of rejecting euthanasia based on its belief in the absolute sovereignty of God, its views on suicide and homicide, and its philosophy of suffering. However, modern medicine and technology continue to rapidly improve. With these advancements come longer life expectancies; with longer life expectancies come higher rates of terminal and chronic diseases. As the public need and support grows stronger for euthanasia, the Church may need to redefine and reframe its argument to align more properly with the sensus fidelium, or find a way to more effectively communicate its current teaching. Regardless of what the church does, the secular world will continue to change and adapt around it, as it has for centuries. Brittany Maynard was a beautiful person who perfectly represents the average non-churchgoers attitude towards euthanasia. This is why stories like hers are essential in any discussion of euthanasia; they can help the Church strengthen their arguments, while simultaneously reminding the Roman Catholic Church that these are real people with real families, pain, hopes, dreams, and beliefs, religious or otherwise.
Works Cited
Amundsen, Darrel W., and Edward J. Larson. A Different Death: Euthanasia & the Christian Tradition. InterVarsity Press, 1998..
Bayly, Joseph. The Last Thing We Talk About. David C. Cook Publ. Co., 1978.
Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church: An Access Guide for Adult Discussion Groups. United States Catholic Conference, 1995.
Chaturvedi, Santosh K., and Suresh B. Math. “Euthanasia: Right to Life vs. Right to Die.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2012.
Dixon, Nicholas. “On the Difference between Physician-Assisted Suicide and Active Euthanasia.” The Hastings Center Report, vol. 28, no. 5, 1998, p. 25.
Dowbiggin, Ian R. A Merciful End: the Euthanasia Movement in Modern America. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Euthanasia Statement. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Catholic Conference, 1998.
“Frequently Asked Questions.” Oregon Department of Education: 2018 Social Sciences Standards SBE First Reading Draft: Social Sciences: State of Oregon.
Gallup, Inc. “Majority of Americans Remain Supportive of Euthanasia.” Gallup.com, 12 June 2017.
Maynard, Brittany. “My Right to Death with Dignity at 29.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3 Nov. 2014.
Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Gaudium Et Spes. Catholic Truth Society, 2012.
Paul, John. On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering: Salvifici Doloris. Pauline Books and Media, 2014.
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Declaration on Euthanasia.” Vatican, 5 May 1980.
Sullivan, Joseph V. The Morality of Mercy Killing. The Newman Press, 1950. Print.
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments. American Bible Society, 2000.
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Euthanasia Practice
Since when does people kill their selves to cure diseases? Euthanasia most commonly known as medically assisted suicide to end one’s life. Most people want to have a right to die because they may be terminally ill and be in excruciating pain that may feel like torment (BBC). Euthanasia is illegal in most of the United States, but there are states that have legalized this. Even though many people think one should have the right to die there are many organizations that are against the idea of euthanasia. One of the organizations is Hope and their mission is to create networks to put up a barrier to euthanasia (Hope).
Hope is a coalition single group that wants to create a positive but effective message to the public. Another organization is Voice for life and their concern is to speak up for life regardless of any circumstances (Voice for life). Voice for life was founded in 1970 by a professor named Sir William Liley in New Zealand (History). Both organizations have similar views on euthanasia and have the knowledge that life is important regardless of any situation. Even though the organizations may differ, they have the same views on the issue and the purpose of this essay is to implement a partnership.
Hope is a single coalition group who oppose euthanasia and is located in Australia. Hope is an organization that firmly believes that euthanasia or medically assisted suicide poses a risk for the vulnerable. Many elderly people who are the vulnerable feel pressured into making the decision to end their life because of being a burden to their families and the state (The telegraph). Most families are the ones that put the ideas in the elder’s head that the family would be better off without them. Euthanasia opens a pathway for the terminally ill, disabled, and the elderly people to see themselves to be an extreme emotional and financial burden to others (the national centre). In the states that allow euthanasia the children have to pick where one will have a medically assisted suicide. Some say that children shouldn’t have the right to choose euthanasia because children don’t have the knowledge or grasp on what life and death is (Debate).
Hope’s organization creates networks of people who want to educate people of all ages on the issue of euthanasia. The organization goes around the world to organize events and have quality speakers to speak to people of all ages. These events give people the hope that one needs to advocate the issue and learn the measures of euthanasia that makes it almost unthinkable. During these events it is discussed how a medically assisted suicide would originally be performed and the effects of the suicide. During a euthanasia patient is injected with a local anesthetic that makes one fall into a coma, and the person will slowly stop breathing (Quora). The organization researches how an euthanasia is performed and shares it with their audience. While doing the research information is exchange between many people to get different ideas.
Similarly, Voice for life advocates against euthanasia but in a different way. Voice for life believes one shouldn’t be allowing to kill themselves over diseases because that is not a cure. Voice for life values human life as some as conception to a natural death (Voice for life). Voice for life was founded in March 1970 in New Zealand. This organization was founded when two gynecologist specialists became aware of the abortion rates. In 2005 Voice for life expanded to all of women health and euthanasia as a topic of debate. Voice for life has over 30 branches that is educating and informing the public on the values of a human life. The organization challenges the communities outlook on euthanasia and to seek protection by law of the human law. Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have legalized assisted suicide (Sharecare). Montana can perform assisted suicide only after a court ruling (Sharecare). Most of the United States have not legalized euthanasia due to many rejected throughout some states. Voice for life wants to keep most of the United States to be against euthanasia and realize what the value of life is.
Hope and Voice for life have similar views on euthanasia but have different ways on advocating the issue. Hope and Voice for life know the importance of life itself and want to educate the public about life. If Hope and Voice for life came together into a partnership, it would really benefit both organizations significantly. Coming into one would make them more significant because one lacks what the other has. Hope has a broadly well-known network base, but Voice for life is more of street post and local newspapers. If the two organization came as one, they would reach a larger base of audience.
If Hope and Voice for life came into a partnership, there would be room to grow for both organizations as a whole. Hope organization offers events to educate the public while Voice for life will hand out packets with more information. After the events there will be people outside handing out packets and free to answer any questions one might have. These organizations would get the money for all events through funding. Hope and Voice for life will set up fundraisers to ensure a steady income to help with their partnership.
Hope has testimonials from people who have cancer and terminal illnesses, Voice for life can broadcast these testimonials through media with the permission of the people. The testimonials being broadcast will get more people to know what’s it like to be sick but not to think about euthanasia. Voice for life seeks protection through legal action to enforce that euthanasia does not spread and Hope can get people lawyers involved through their large network base. Hope can find lawyers and policemen to help find legal action while Voice for life is knowledgeable about any legal action they can find. Hope organization has a team that researches euthanasia and builds on it, Voice for life can present the researched material to the media as a pro-life message.
These organization are significant in gathering up people to fight their cause. The organizations want to educate and inform their audience about euthanasia. Hope organization is a single group of people who firmly believe that euthanasia poses risks to the vulnerable. Hope wants to create a message to all ages of people that euthanasia is not okay and should not be legalized. Voice for life believes that euthanasia will not cure anything. The organization wants people to understand and educate themselves about euthanasia. The organizations have a different way to advocate the issue but come together as a whole when it comes to with or against. These two organizations would benefit from coming together as partners and educating a larger audience. Hope and Voice for life are better together than apart because they make a stronger team and task force. These organizations would reach a larger audience, have support through legal actions, and have many ways to present information.
References:
https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-care-basics/in-which-states-euthanasia-assisted-suicide-legal
https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/introduction.shtml
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9478399/Assisted-suicide-comment-euthanasia-puts-the-vulnerable-at-risk.html
https://www.nathaniel.org.nz/euthanasia/23-campaigns/euthanasia/modal-windows/257-the-dangers-of-euthanasia-key-arguments
https://www.quora.com/How-does-euthanasia-work-and-what-happens-inside-the-body
https://www.sharecare.com/health/health-care-basics/in-which-states-euthanasia-assisted-suicide-legal
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Ethic and Moral of Euthanasia
Ethics and morals are basis of actions which are related to humans. Although many people believe that the two are interchangeable, this is not the case. Ethics is based on logic and reasoning, while morality is based on tradition, customs, and religion. While morality differs among different groups of people, ethics is universal. Every individual has their own beliefs, and morals which are based on those beliefs. Ethics cannot be open to opinion, as it is based on logic and science. In the same sense, bioethics cannot be considered the same as bio-morality. Bioethics, is the study of controversial ethical issues usually arising from new situations and possibilities brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Most ethical questions relating to life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law and philosophy.
Imagine a family member, friend or even yourself in the hospital paralyzed or suffering to the point where you’re in a critical condition. How much pain would you accept for the chance of a few extra weeks? And how would you use the time left if you knew that no such chance remained? It’s hard to live in a world where you always have to rely on someone else to take care of you for the rest of your life. Majority would eventually feel like it’s better to die rather than not being able to even move a finger and constantly cry and suffer from mental and physical pain. The subject of Euthanasia is a warmed fight, in which lines have been drawn between warring social, religious and political gatherings.
Many people want this controversial institution erased from lawful medicine, yet others say that we ought to have the capacity to pick our destinies in extreme cases. Both the administrators of neither the nation nor the general population have been able to find a solution to this debate without causing an intense opposition. Euthanasia derives from the Greek word “ethanoates” meaning “good death”, is the practice of assisted suicide with the intention of relieving pain and suffering. There are two different types of euthanasia, voluntary euthanasia which is everything is conducted with a consent. Involuntary euthanasia is when it is conducted without any consent. For example, the decision will be made by someone else due to the patient not being able to make its own decisions. I believe an action based ethical approach should be sought when determining whether euthanasia is just.
Clyde Haberman presents many cons to euthanasia in the article Stigma Around Physician-Assisted Dying Lingers, one of them being “patients feel like they don’t want to trouble or over burden their families anymore which is why they would want to call it quits, the poor and uninsured will have their lives cut short due to lack of money or the medication might be prescribed for the mentally incompetent or doctors might be moving too fast to bring an end to those going through depression. “”We should address what would give them purpose, not give them a handful of pills,”” (Emanuel 1). But Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel view doesn’t know the pain and suffering a patient has to go through! One who argues that assisted dying should be permitted is a person who believes in dying with dignity. It is also stated that those who want euthanasia tend to be relatively well off and well educated about what they are doing.
Euthanasia evidently only has one end, death. However, it has two ways of being performed; one by the doctor administering a fatal dose of drug to the patient on their request and in assisted suicide, the doctor supplies the lethal drug, but the patient administers it. Immanuel Kant is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. His theory of ethics was deontological for several different reasons. Kant argues that to act in the morally right way one must act purely, the highest good must be both good in itself and good without qualification. This is something that is highly argued in euthanasia, if patients were given better care and spoken to in a clearer manner there would be fewer ill people wanting to terminate their lives. Often patients receive drastic treatment in spite of their dying wishes, when doctors claim to do everything possible as they have been trained to, without talking through people’s preferences of ensuring that the prognosis is clearly understood.
For instance, a third of American patients with terminal cancer are asked about their goals at the end of life, whether they wish to attend a special event, even if it means leaving the hospital and risking an earlier death. Most oncologists admit that they have never been taught how to speak to a dying patient. If I was in the patients shoes, an ill patient and constantly being reminded about my near death and pain I wouldn’t see the point in living my last few days or months on a hospital bed being a burden to everyone else. In my opinion, this is a good approach to making a decision when it comes to settling the controversy of euthanasia. Most doctors enter medicine to help people slow down the process death, not to talk about how to avoid it. When it comes to mortality, people will always feel dread contemplating. Death has been hidden away in hospitals and nursing homes and has become harder to talk about. Politicians are scared to bring up end of life care just in case they are accused of setting up death panels. But honest and open conversations with the dying should be a part of modern medicine. A better death means a better life.
Kant once stated, it is not the consequences of actions that make them right or wrong but the motives of the person who carries out the action. This could be disagreed upon with the case of “Dr. Death”. This man was a euthanasia proponent and created a suicide machine. There was a button connected to fatal dose of potassium chloride and all the ill patients had to do was press the button and end their lives. Dr. Death had good motives since he didn’t want patients to suffer but the question arises if it is ethical to just create a machine and let people kill themselves?
Individuals that have encountered long excruciating passing’s feel that euthanasia is a good thing. When you watch someone lay in bed in agonizing pain everyday you can only hope for death to come soon. Why must someone suffer because the government or society says that it is morally wrong? Can they snap their fingers and return time to when all was well? Marcia Angell the writer of May Doctors Help You to Die? is for legalizing euthanasia. She claims there are many cases where prolonging the death of a person is harmful. Marcia contrasts voluntary euthanasia and states that “voluntary euthanasia is often the most humane of these options because it allows a doctor, at the patient’s request, to administer a fast painless death”. Other doctors and philosophers also think that euthanasia should be legalized. In her peer reviewed journal Philosopher Assisted suicide and Euthanasia written by Ann Arbor states that “many doctors and philosophers have opposing views on the issue and may seem uncomfortable with legal euthanasia and assisted suicide but the choice is starting to look inevitable during present time of day”. (1-2)
Many arguments that oppose euthanasia are based on the belief that a patient’s life should be preserved due to the possibility of their recovery. However, in the article Majority of Dutch Docs would Euthanize Dementia Patients by Donna B. Smith a Dutch survey conducted in 1991 shows that 86% of Euthanasia cases only shortened the life of the patient by a maximum of 1 week. “The standard time it shortened their life was by a few hours only”(1) This shows that terminal illness is statistically terminal. Also the fact that in the majority of these cases, the patients were in extreme agony, the numbers show you that terminally ill patients are using euthanasia to end the suffering where they would have had near impossible chances of recovery.
An opponent of euthanasia would however say the patient might have a chance to survive and make a miraculous recovery. It is because the numbers are so heavily indicative of euthanasia as an out for terminally ill patients in terrible agony that it must be allowed as an option to end their suffering. One of the big arguments against euthanasia is that it’s irreversible: Once the patient is gone, we’ll never know if their unexpected recovery was just around the corner, or if they might have gone on to lead full and happy lives despite their illness. However, this argument ignores the data so hard it basically punches reason in the face. The fact is, in all nations where euthanasia is legal; it’s for the terminally ill. And, despite what miracles and daytime dramas would have us believe, terminal illness is usually exactly that: the final stop before death.
In Australia the public opinion also supports euthanasia being legalized, it is around seventy-five percent of the populace in Australia that are in favor of doctors giving or practicing euthanasia if requested by a terminally ill patient who is experiencing unbelievable suffering. The article, Suffering and Euthanasia: a qualitative study of patients' perspectives also written by Ann Arbor is based on the responses to the Morgan Poll question: “If a hopelessly ill patient, experiencing suffering with absolutely no chance of recovery, asks for a lethal dose, so as not to wake again, should the doctor be able to give the lethal dose? in 1962 only 47% said “yes” and in 1995 78% responded “yes”. Now only 18% say “no” while the other 8% is undecided.
From this survey the general population have expressed that in a few circumstances voluntary euthanasia should be practiced. Patients with illnesses like cancer should be allowed to choose their season of death. “Cancer is the most common cause of death in Australia, accounting for more than a quarter of all deaths.” (Arbor) There is major pain associated with cancer and it is a severe and intractable form of chronic pain. Patients with advanced cancers often experience multiple symptoms like fatigue, weakness, mental haziness, anxiety and nausea. Many of these symptoms cannot be eliminated and may affect the function of well-being. This can cause a major source of distress to the terminally ill as well as cause extremely unpleasant symptoms, which is rough in the terminal stage. This is where euthanasia would be able to step in and with the request from the patient.
There are many cases, for which euthanasia should be legalized due to the fact that it is better for the person to die sooner than go through a traumatizing experience and have a painful death. In the article, French Woman’s Euthanasia Request Denied by Christophe Scpolaiansky speaks about a 53-year-old woman named Chantel S©bire who lived in Plombieresles-Dijon, near Dijon, France. In 2000, she was diagnosed with Esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer of which only 1000 cases have been reported in the past 20 years. “As time progressed, the cancer burrowed through her sinuses, nasal cavities, and eye socket, leaving her face severely disfigured.
She also lost her senses of sight, taste, and smell and suffered severe pain that she refused to relieve with morphine due to its side effects.” (Scpolaiansky) S©bire first gained recognition in February 2008 when she made a public appeal to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to allow her to die through euthanasia, stating, ""One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured."" (Sebire) On March 17, 2008, she lost her case in a French court, with the magistrate noting that while French law does allow for the removal of life-support equipment for terminally ill patients, it does not allow a doctor to take action to end a patient's life.
Euthanasia is quite a controversial topic. People have both opposed and favored assisted suicide for patients who are terminally ill which have raised many questions around the world. However, it seems that an action based ethical approach addresses the concern better, although both teleological and deontological approaches differ, they also go hand in hand. Deontological approach has more short-term results whereas teleological is far more long term.
In the case of euthanasia deontological approach is used to determine what is best for “all” since it is the health care industry and the teleological approach is used clarify that physicians need to speak clearer to patients to both have the same understanding as well as give better palliative care since studies show high success rates. There is no doubt that people will still argue over the rights and wrongs of euthanasia even then, but it is still best to make sure the patient is in the best facility and health environment they could be in during there last moments to live. Therefore, I believe euthanasia should be illegal due to other resources being available to keep the patient in comfort and living longer.
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The Argument for the Legalization of Euthanasia
Regard to the way that Cruzan's folks were as it were thinking about her best advantages. Marking these occasions as ""murder"", legitimately or verbally, clashes with our natural sensitivity towards the family's battle since the word conveys a strongly negative undertone that should reference just genuine reprobates. Popular assessment concurs with this; seventy-two percent of respondents to a 2003 Gallup survey trust that ""when a man has an infection that can't be relieved… specialists ought to be permitted to end such patient's reality by some effortless means, if the patient solicitations it"" (Jost). To be reasonable, Cruzan's circumstance did not include infection, and her family needed to ask for death for her since she couldn't do as such herself, however the guideline continues as before. On a comparative note, individuals supporting the sacredness of life regularly blame appropriate to kick the bucket activists for ""characterizing a gathering of individuals as having lives that are not as worth securing"" (Jost), underlining the crippled, ward, and elderly.
While the facts confirm that we require laws to obviously characterize qualifications for Physician Assisted Suicide and willful extermination, these laws are intended to counteract misuse, not empower it. Besides, upholding such directions does not consequently mean we trust specific sorts of individuals are lesser, nor do we bounce to the end that somebody is enduring. Take a gander at the regarded physicist Stephen Hawking, for model. He is restricted to a wheelchair and compelled to talk by means of a computer because of the malady amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, however his noteworthy research, splendid personality, and minding family give a productive life that even some solid people need. We would not prescribe him to bite the dust, and at any rate, I trust patients ought to be their very own definitive determinants destinies since we as a whole hold changing considerations on what involves a decent life. On the off chance that a patient is rationally awkward like Cruzan, a proficient intermediary ought to decide wellbeing choices in their stead.
One final good worry about Physician Assisted Suicide and killing inquiries if legitimization would make suicide socially satisfactory. This dread isn't totally unfounded, yet there are essential qualifications between the individuals who look for death dependent on therapeutic conditions and the discouraged. Initially, it is conceivable to vanquish misery. There exists a tremendous system of suicide avoidance assets that has spared numerous lives. Doctor Assisted Suicide and willful extermination, be that as it may, serve individuals who confront unavoidable demise or lasting, devastating handicaps; their fates are grievously fixed. Second, discouraged people are not said to be in a correct perspective. Interestingly, numerous Physician Assisted Suicide and willful extermination patients bite the dust after rationally stable thought of their conditions. Lee Jordan, a sixty-multiyear elderly person who had terminal mind malignant growth, wound up laid up and asked for death in the wake of talking about his qualities with family (Karaim).
I understand I have not said much on the lawful problems of doctor helped suicide and willful extermination. That is an entire other discussion in itself, and I trust that those issues can likewise be explained with adequate shields. Nonetheless, with the end goal to consider lawfulness by any means, we should exhibit that the two Physician Assisted Suicide and killing are ethically worthy. Individuals assaulting the privilege to bite the dust give the subject a famously dismal notoriety, however cautious assessment makes it plain that Physician Assisted Suicide and killing are, truth be told, therapeutically legitimate, sympathetic ways for the in critical condition and horrendously debilitated. They are just secured by a cover of misconception. At some point, I trust everybody can see that we don't love life for the good of its own. We adore life for the delights we encounter, thus we should end the disgrace against the individuals who feel that their lives are never again rich enough to proceed.
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Buddhist Perspective of Suicide and Euthanasia
Suicide is the intentional act of taking one’s own life, and unfortunately, is an everyday occurrence in today’s world. In general, suicide is a taboo topic and is often avoided in conversation. However, it is important to recognize the religious implications that arise from suicide and euthanasia. Ancient Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, share some commonalities but also diverge from one another in their perception on intentionally taking your own life. Both religions draw from fundamental ideas held when formulating their individualized overall viewpoint on this topic.
Within Hinduism, suicide is perceived as a dualistic concept. As an overarching rule, Hinduism condemns the act of suicide. Not only does it have horrific consequences to the individual, but it also creates a social stigma around the family involved. Due to this complication faced by exposure, suicides within this religion are often not reported.
Hinduism regards karma as a cause and effect relationship that is enforced by an invisible power and is a direct result of action. The soul, or the atman, is considered to eternal and unchanging, and travels through samsara, or the cycle of rebirth, until liberation is reached.
Liberation, or moksha, allows the atman to become one with God again. Wrongful actions result in “bad karma” and cause the downward movement of the atman, which creates a farther path to achieving moksha. For the duration of human life, followers are expected to strive to attain liberation. The principle of ahimsa, or no violence, is fervently held in Hinduism and is reflective in followers’ everyday lives. This concept extends to oneself as well as others.
For one, suicide is condemned in this religion because all life is considered sacred. Humans life is perceived as precious because only through one of the three human realms can liberation be achieved. Other living things, such as insects and animals, do not receive the same opportunity, so it is crucial followers within this realm take advantage of this. By committing suicide, followers are ignoring the good fortune they have received and are behaving in a way that is sinful.
Also, suicide is unacceptable because it results in the failure to fulfill the unique role given to each individual by God’s creation. Similar to the traditional view of the caste system, each human being is a necessary participant in the society as a whole. Regardless of this designation, it is that person’s responsibility to behave in a way that does not comprise the overall good. When a follower decides to commit suicide for selfish reasons, the cosmic progression of events is affected as well as “disrupting the family lineage, the birth of progeny, nourishment of gods, and the proper function of society” (Jayaram, n.d.). Overall, committing suicide as a willful act is seen as “disobedience to God and His laws” (Jayaram, n.d.).
In the sixteenth teaching of The Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna differentiates between the divine and the demonic in man. The demonic man is characterized as being, “subject to insatiable desire, / drunk with hypocrisy and pride, / holding false notions from delusion, / they act with impure vows” (The Bhagavad-Gita 16:10). Since committing suicide is viewed as an impure act, followers that submit to this form of self-harm are included within this description. Lord Krishna then states, “these hateful, cruel, vile / men of misfortune, I cast / into demonic wombs through cycles of rebirth” (The Bhagavad-Gita 16:19).
If a follower is successful in committing suicide the atman neither goes to heaven or hell. Instead, the atman resides within the earthly realm as a spirit and is confined to this realm until its expected life span is over. Then the soul enters back in to the cycle of rebirth until liberation is achieved. However, before the atman can enter back in to samsara, it must first enter hell. Mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gita, the three gates of hell, including desire, anger, and greed, must be relinquished before the atman can enter back in to the cycle of rebirth. It is then that the atman can begin building positive karma in the prospect of liberation.
Despite this generalized viewpoint, within ancient Hindu text, exceptions are made for the act of suicide under certain parameters. One example of this is the practice of prayopasvesa, which is defined as fasting to death. This is reserved for individuals that have achieved enlightenment and is considered the only acceptable form of suicide because it is a non-violent and a natural death. The three stipulations for this action are, “the inability to perform normal bodily purification”, “death appears imminent, or the condition is so bad that life’s pleasures are reduced to nil”, and “the action must be subject to community regulation” (Walton, n.d.). Overall, given these parameters, prayopasvesa is a recognized practice in Hinduism. However, despite the recognition of this form of euthanasia, there are some suicidal practices previously held within ancient Hindu traditions that are no longer enforced.
The term Sati is derived from the Sanskrit term asti, which is defined as pure or true.
This practice is traced back to mythological times, when Sati the wife of Lord Shiva threw herself on to a fire to rebel against the negative feelings her father had for her husband. Although this story was used as a justification for the practice, she was not a widow, so it does not directly approve this act. Sati is considered to be the greatest form of sacrifice a wife can make for her husband and it involves the wife “immolating herself after her husband’s death” (Jain, 2018).
As time progressed, this tradition was increasingly forced upon women who did not wish to participate. If a woman was seen as a burden to society and lacked children to support her financially but refused to perform sati, she was forced to die through different methods. This practice was most popular in the 15th and 18th century, and “during this period, as many as 1,000 widows were burned alive every year, most commonly in India and Nepal” (Jain, 2018).
Similar to Hindu tradition, Buddhist followers have a contrasting view on the idea of suicide. There is little historical text from Siddhartha Gautama or other prominent figures within Buddhism on suicide, so interpretations must be made based on the information given. This perspective can be interpreted in many ways, and those varying viewpoints will be examined individually.
In Buddhism, the journey to enlightenment entails the Four Nobles Truths and the Eight-Fold Path that must be overcome to end suffering. The Four Noble Truths entail followers accepting dukkha as inevitable, realizing suffering comes from desire and attachment, ending desire and attachment, and that this is done by following the Eight-Fold Path. Followers of Buddhism reject the idea of the soul entirely, instead, referring to it as anatman, or no-self. Anatman is reflective of the three qualities of existence, including interdependence, impermanence, and suffering. No separate self-entities exist within this religion because they must inter-exist with one another. The karmic process differs from Hinduism in that the action is dependent on the intention behind it. Without intention behind an action, the cycle of rebirth cannot be affected.
Within the perspective that holds suicide as morally just, there is a distinct designation when done by someone considered enlightened versus someone who is not considered enlightened. Referring to the unenlightened, “the desperate person who takes his own life obviously aspires to annihilation: his suicide, instigated by desire, will not omit him from fruition, and he will have to partake of the fruit of his action” (Keown, 1996). This traces back to the fundamental idea of dukkha and overcoming suffering. An unenlightened individual who commits suicide is considered to have misinterpreted or misunderstood the First Noble Truth. They were unable to accept suffering as an inevitable part of life and overcome it due to their blindness towards their attachments and desires. However, “in contrast, suicide is justified in the persons of the Noble Ones who have already cut off desire and by so doing neutralized their actions by making them incapable of producing another fruit” (Keown, 1996). The division between these two types of individuals stems for the motivation behind their actions. The enlightened are seen as having relinquished all attachment to desire, so as a result their suicide is not motivated by any sort of ill will and is not considered to be evil.
A differing stance on the act of suicide regards motivation as an improper measurement on the morality of taking one’s own life. This evaluation holds that viewing suicide through the former perspective is a subjective analysis of a complex topic, and this differing viewpoint “claims the same action (suicide) can be either right or wrong depending on the state of mind of the person who suicides: the presence of desire (or fear) makes it wrong, and the absence of desire (or fear) makes it right.” (Keown, 1996).
This perspective is defended by interpretations from historical text regarding Channa. The situation in which Channa committed suicide can be perceived as condoning suicide, but if anything, it was an exoneration from blame for his actions. In addition, the validity of the exoneration is not clear within the text and firm conclusions cannot be drawn that either confirm or deny this. There is also stipulation as to whether or not Channa was even enlightened, which entirely undercuts the relevancy of the event. It is factual that Channa died an Arhat, “by reference from the Buddha’s closing statement, although there is no corroborating evidence that Channa was an Arhat and no indication of when he became on” (Keown, 1996). Without assurance that Channa was an Arhat upon death, the idea that suicide is a moral act when committed by an enlightened individual cannot be supported.
This viewpoint can also be further sustained by referencing the overarching fundamentals of Buddhism. The Buddhist path is coined as the “Middle Way”, meaning “rejection of the two extremes of sensual indulgence and harsh absurdity, both of which he rejected in favor of a moderate and balanced way of life” (Keown, 1998). The idea of suicide seems to fit within this extreme categorization and as a result is not a compromise.
Euthanasia is also a debated topic in regard to its moral validity. Ahimsa, mentioned earlier, takes on a different meaning due to the assertion of the importance of the intention behind the action. With the redefined meaning of ahimsa, euthanasia cannot be condemned within Buddhism. This is because “ahimsa prohibits only intention killing”, “it does not impose an obligation to preserve life at all costs” (Keown, 1998). Followers are under no obligation to cling to life if it is through unsustainable means, and this could even be perceived as “detrimental to spiritual progress” (Keown, 1998). This draws back to conclusions made about the Middle Way of Buddhism and references the extremes that must be gone to in order to prolong life as well as shorten it.
Within the two religions, excluding exceptions, the rationale behind the perspective on suicide and euthanasia is based on the interpretation of ahimsa. While there is no explicit evidence supporting or denying the approval of suicide in Buddhism, what we do know is that the motivation behind the action is taken in to consideration. However, in Hinduism, the strict definition of ahimsa, being no harm, entirely eliminates the acceptance of this act. The motivation behind taking one’s own life is not a factor regardless of the situation.
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Meaning of Euthanasia
What's euthanasia?
Euthanasia is a painless loss of life, some may additionally say euthanasia is a undeviating act for taking a lifestyles through prescription drugs. A patient that has a quick amplify of life can address such an problem with their healthcare provider. Counseling may be furnished before the very last choice is made by means of manner of medical doctor and the patient. At anytime the patient reserves the proper to with draw from the gadget. The affected person however want to have top reason for the approach before a doctor will approve this kind of request. Written documentation can be acquired from the ethics of clinical and studies at the net web site, through his/her medical docs workplace. If the scientific health practitioner has agreeded with affected character that this is the best alternative each patient and medical doctor could be blanketed via jail binding files and felony tips of that united states of america. The patient additionally has the proper to request own family, pals and spouses to be present for the duration of the time of this process. This shape of euthanasia can be considered as a voluntary act.
Pick out and describe criminal guidelines regarding euthanasia to your nation.
The extermination of lifestyles is constrained in Louisiana and at some stage in the complete the usa. Louisiana proper to existence's center for medical Ethics systematized into regulation the Louisiana's natural lack of existence Act for consenting or denying medicinal remedy which currently explicitly peruses: ""no longer anything on this aspect can be translated to excuse, approve, or choose leniency slaughtering or killing or to permit any agreed or sensible act or oversight to give up lifestyles other than to permit the function procedure of passing on"" (RS forty:1299.fifty eight.10).
Explain a latest case about euthanasia and its very last outcomes.
Mr. Noel Conway is a sixty seven 365 days antique termally ill man need to exercise the regulation on assisted loss of life, in order that he may go in a more dignified manner. The request have become provided and denied 3 times in court docket. Mr.Conway found out that the Suicide Act of 1961 contradicts article eight in reguards to human life and privacy to the judges. but to no avail the judges did not go with the flow on the act of euthanasia. Mr. Conway plead his case on the legal depend and he said that he's going to keep to come back in advance than the courts till his request is granted. Mr. Conway has a respiratory tool that includes each breath for him. in spite of the fact that he's dieseased ridden, his best preference is to smother to loss of life through getting rid of the breathing tubes in his nostrals.
Mr. Conway feels as although his rights as a human grow to be now not handiest granted however disreguarded. Mr. Conway isn't predicted to stay skip every other yr. perhaps if he had offered his request underneath six months of life while in a sturdy frame of thoughts. He would possibly have had a higher hazard at dieing a non violent loss of life and announcing good-bye to like ones at his very own leisure. some other reason why his request emerge as denied is due to the truth he modified into depending upon his medical health practitioner to assist with this act. but the legal guidelines isn't always in select of act and is strictly prohibited.
Based totally upon what you've got study, deliver your opinion on euthanasia, and assist your argument
I am toward euthanasia due to the reality it is morally incorrect. on the way to disregard human life because of ailments and sicknesses strips away the cost of mankind. this can additionally begin a trend inside the medical challenge for the usage of euthanasia as treatment in preference to a cure. For spiritual motives this takes existence from the hands of a higher spiritual electricity.
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Euthanasia – the Final Choice in Life
Euthanasia has long been a contentious debate among Americans, because of its end result: death. The Washington v. Glucksberg case of 1997 resulted in the ban of assisted suicide on June 26, 1997, by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ("Washington v. Glucksberg,” 1997, pp. 315-322) Some people in society feel that assisted suicide is an acceptable practice for those suffering from terminal illnesses or other major medical conditions, while others are objectionable based on religious or moral beliefs. They have a strong secure emotional connection to their suffering family member or friend and strive to keep them alive for as long as possible. I believe that it is not the best-case scenario to keep someone suffering from ineffable discomfort, prolonging the inevitable. I believe that patients with serious terminal illnesses should have a choice whether or not they would like to pass on from their suffering.
Terminally ill patients and their caregivers may consider euthanasia due to many medical reasons. Dementia, for example, is a condition that impacts the brain causing memory loss and lack of judgment, among other complications. Over time without treatment, it can deteriorate your brain’s main functions and will eventually leave the person in a vegetative state. Eventually, some people with terminal illnesses will be unable to communicate their final wishes and will no longer play a part in their care. Patients that reach a nonverbal state will be left to suffer the pains and discomfort caused by their ailment. For instance, a terminally-ill patient that depends on a machine to regulate their heartbeat, blood flow, and her respirations for an extended period. The patient now complains that the tubes, pricking needles, and various complicated machines keeping them alive are overwhelming and stressful; the wants to move on from the pain and be free from the torment. This is a good example of a direct and passive act of performing euthanasia on a patient; when the patient is actively dying and wants to end their suffering.
“Euthanasia has several forms –voluntary (death at patient’s will), involuntary (death at other’s will when patient is unconscious or not competent to decide), direct (giving patient direct lethal drug to die), indirect (providing treatment which can expedite patient death), active (death is brought about by an act), and passive (letting someone die either by withdrawing or withholding treatment). (Srivastava, 2014) Overall, it depends on the patient’s medical condition and their desires or the wishes of the patient’s relatives when the patient cannot communicate properly. Euthanasia is a complex decision that involves the patient, family, and members of the healthcare team, and affects everyone differently. End of life care can cause a highly emotional response with friends and family of the terminally ill patient. Extreme emotion and an unwillingness to see the patient die can cause family to request that doctors make all attempts to keep the patient alive against the patient’s will. I believe that it is necessary to afford the right to euthanasia to a patient when they are capable of making the decision for themselves.
Permitting euthanasia will allow patients to protect themselves from a prolonged and painful death when they are no longer able to communicate, when family members refuse to let go. It would be best to get it over with and spare the loved individual from any more pain. In a magazine article, Nursing 2015 Issue: Volume 45(3), a lady describes her father as being diagnosed with dementia and forgetting who he was. She stated, “Can you medicate away the sheer terror I frequently saw on my father's face when he forgot who he was, where he was, what he was doing, and who the people around him were? Once a voracious reader, he struggled to read a children's book; then he could no longer read at all. He could neither participate in conversations nor follow his beloved Mets play a game on TV. He couldn't play with his grandchildren or even recognize them. Everything that made my father who he was, was gone, with zero chance of cure or recovery.” (Humphrey & Warsh, 2015, p. 8) A group effort between family and friends is needed when determining the fate of the terminally-ill. “ Family life has a common good-reciprocal love, care, and support between family members.
Groups of friends too share in the common good of their inter-personal relationships built upon a sense of mutual regard.” (Bowie, Paterson, Sorell, 2008, p. 167) Deeply held religious beliefs can also be a deciding factor with euthanasia. Concerning suicide itself, rather than one dying to end their torment from their medical conditions, the Bible teaches important lessons on refraining from suicide, even when the chance is given or just by desire. For instance, Job asked for his death when Satan made sure that all of his children were dead, stripped Job of all of his vast wealth, and put an unknown number of diseases on him, thus, leaving Job on a pile of ash and completely covered with scabs. “May it please God to crush me, to give his hand free play and do away with me! This thought, at least, would give me comfort (a thrill of joy in unrelenting pain), that I never rebelled against the Holy One's decrees. But have I the strength to go on waiting? And why be patient, when doomed to such an end?”1 (Barry, 1997, p. 290) Most of the time, there are those who agreed with the idea of euthanasia just by their morals and empathy, instead by religious factors.
“In the studies by Asai et al. and Tanida et al., an overwhelming majority (85%) stated they based their views on secular ethical principles. Only 3% of the respondents stated that their opinions had been influenced by a religious ethical approach.” (Gielen, van den Branden, & Broeckaert, 2009, p. 309) Euthanasia has long been a contentious debate among Americans, because of its end result: death. Although it is considered unconstitutional in all but a few states in America, other people consider assisted suicide as an escape from prolonged death that other families may strive for their dying loved ones with terminal illnesses. I think that anyone that is suffering from a terminal illness or any other untreatable medical condition, should have a say whether they want to end their life. However, not only does the ill patient’s choice matter, but the emotional connections and desires from the relatives have an effect.
They can also choose to perform euthanasia if the patient is incapable of deciding their fate. The other factor that can still determine the terminally-ill’s decision is their religious belief. Euthanasia is varied greatly, depending on the religion practiced. Most individuals who were surveyed on the prospect of euthanasia stated that they would do assisted suicide by their own ethics rather than by religious factors. (Gielen, van den Branden, & Broeckaert, 2009, p. 309) To me, it would be immoral to leave a person to suffer unnecessarily. It is just a waste of time, money for the family, and effort for the doctors to take care of the individual for long periods of time.
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Euthanasia and Physician-assisted Deaths
Euthanasia and physician-assisted deaths have become a major topic of debate internationally. Upon analyzing an article that aids in defining how euthanasia and physician-assisted deaths play into palliative care, a better perspective can be developed on the topic. White papers are government reports that give citizens and the reader concise information on a given topic or issue; in this case, the issue is discovering how the different forms of hastened death play into palliative care. The overall purpose of this experimental study was to define the ethical frameworks and issues in relation to patients desire to have an assisted suicide.
For the EAPC, European Association for Palliative Care, to set up these guidelines they designed an experiment based off a paper they published in 2003 regarding the topics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicides. The took the previous 21 statements established on the information apropos of the time, creating a five-round test to update the validity of each statement. These five-round tests were based off the Delphi procedure, where experts answer questions based on multiple rounds. In the first round, experts in the palliative care and medical field were asked to give feedback. The rounds following this are all conducted using Survey Monkey; It is an online survey service to which the participates agreed or disagreed in a rating of sorts, using the Likert scale, with the previous set 21 statements. To create an updated version of their 2003 outline, they looked at the statements where those whom those who participated in the survey study did not completely agree with said statement. There were 6 out of the 21 statements that the participates didn’t agree with completely, although 68% was the lowest percentage of which all the participated did not agree (EAPC, 2015).
The results of the surveys were rather interesting in that they decided that euthanasia and physician-assisted deaths were not a part of palliative care. They clearly defined the multiple concepts discussed, creating a more clear-cut white paper. Palliative care is defined as the professionals in that field viewing every life as full of worth, hoping to get the patient to see that resulting in improving their view of the situation they are dealing with. It was decided that palliative care experts should take into consideration the requests of euthanasia and physician hastened deaths to determine the thought process behind their wishes. The surveys showed that people believe that if the patients receive “special psychosocial and spiritual counseling” along with the best medical attempts to cure whatever symptoms the patient is having that they will view their life in a better light.
I feel that this article would rate moderately high on the timeliness aspects of the TRAAP test. This article was posted in April of 2015, leaving a good three years of information on the topic to grow. Euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and other forms of hastened death have steadily become a heavy debate topic internationally. With timeliness how fresh and new the information presented in the article is looked at. This study is more recent than many of the studies that are out there, even as the topic has grown, making it one of the more up to date articles. Considering that this article was based off a 2003 white paper and was looking to refresh the definitions and ethical framework as the topic began to heat up adds to the timeliness aspect.
This article ties together hastened death and how with the right counseling and treatments a patient could see that their life is full of worth, no matter their current state. This article defined certain terms and all the information present in the article is detailed. I feel that this makes the article rate more on the upper side of the “R” or relevance scale of TRAPP, which gauges the importance of the information in the article. The article aided in my understanding of palliative care, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and all the aspects that should be considered. I feel that could have delved deeper into how depression impacts the patient and their reasoning as to why they wish for a hastened death. I think if the researcher and experts in this article would have addressed how “terminal” illnesses play into a patient’s decision, along with other major factors, it would have allowed the reader to get dual perspectives.
To examine the credibility of the source, we look at the “A” in the TRAAP test, which stands for authority. This article rates highly on the authority scale due to the multitude of credible experts and authors that put together the article. This article was also peer-reviewed by multiple credible experts and authors. The EAPC has an Impact factor of 3.780, which adds to the credibility of the article. Those who wrote the article are on the board of the EAPC, making them experts on the topic at hand, not only did the go to school to learn about the topic at hand, they also work first- hand in the field and are able to see the assisted suicide debate first hand. I feel that the way they conducted this experiment was a little narrow and they could have broadened the study a little more, extending it to other medical professionals.
To determine how reliable and correct the information from the source is, we look at the second “A” in TRAAP, which stands for Accuracy. I feel that this article rates high on the accuracy scale of the TRAAP test as its information is heavily based on expertise and expert research. The multiple authors of this paper cite all their sources, so you can track where they obtained the information in their article. I read about a lot of new topics concerning physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, yet this article is backed up by a more reliable source. The authors that contributed to this article “declared no potential conflicts of interest,” creating a less bias piece (EAPC, 2015).
The main goal of the “P” in TRAAP is to evaluate the purpose of the article and why it was created. I would rate this article rather high on the purpose scale of TRAAP. I feel that the author’s main goal is to inform the readers about the updated version of the white paper the EAPC established in 2003 along with the current debate about hastened deaths and its possible expansion. The article sets out to explain how palliative care is a much better alternative to euthanasia; although, physicians should consider a patient’s wishes at all times. The target audience was anyone who has an interest in the current debate about the ethical framework of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicides. This article also targets those in the medical field who want to gain information on the benefits of palliative care in comparison to styles of hastened death. The information in this article stays on topic and gets across the points it set out to make, creating a high rating for the purpose aspect.
Overall, I would rate this article very high according to the TRAAP test. The information in the article is relatively current and up to date. The article relays information that is important when discussing physician-assisted suicides and euthanasia, along with the palliative care aspect of health care. The information in this article is very reliable and all the sources are easily able to be tracked. Those who aided in writing the article are experts in this field of healthcare and were able to give insight from an authority figure who can relay an accurate perspective of the topic to the readers. This article also gives defines its purpose and explains it throughout the entire paper, resulting in a clear set of defined terms and concepts surrounding palliative care, euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicides and how they all intertwine.
Looking back at the methodology of this article, there were a few strengths and weaknesses that should be further looked at. In the research article, the number of experts that took the survey was not listed, knowing the number of people who took the test would allow the reader to gauge how many experts agreed with the 21 statements. Another weakness of this article’s methodology would be that all of those who took the survey work on the board or are members of the EAPC, I feel like this makes the results of this study a bit bias. I feel like this could also be a strength considering they are all experts in palliative care, making the information reliable.
I feel that if they had expanded the survey to other palliative care organizations and may be used physicians who participated in euthanasia, the results would be more all-inclusive. I think that the way the survey is set up is good for analyzing the 21 statements, allowing the person who conducted the experiment to look at how people agree with the statement. I think that the survey is also a little suggestive, in that it is leading the medical expert to think morally and not consider all the aspects of euthanasia.
This article addresses my research topic well. The article touches on how patients should receive counseling and made to rethink the value they put on their life, to make the patients reconsidering their worth. The article gives off the impression that through palliative care and counseling, those who had previously wanted to commit suicide will feel more at ease with their lives. I feel that it could have discussed depression more and how that affected a patient’s decision to commit physician-assisted suicide. The paper explains how many get patient’s request death, so they don’t feel like a burden to their families, and because they are miserable in their current situation, and are reaching for control.
Through an examination of all aspects of a patient's reasoning for wanting a hastened death should be talked about and can ultimately save their life. This article branched out to discuss more of the ethical standpoint of euthanasia and how that should be a last resort and heavily monitored so killing does not become socially acceptable and palliative care is not devalued in any way. The article does not touch on the topic of depression as much as I would have liked but provided a good source with very valuable information.
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Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Introduction
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Although the right of life, liberty, and property are guaranteed, the right to die is not. Due to the absence of this right, the debate on whether assisted suicide and euthanasia should be legal has been carried out for decades. The Constitution guarantees us a generous amount of inalienable rights.
These rights include freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. With an abundance of personal freedoms and rights, should those in suffering be allowed to prematurely put their physical and mental torment to an end? Throughout this essay, I will define the concepts of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, provide background information, observations, opposing arguments, and offer my opinion on the subject.
Background Information
There are varying definitions of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Due to the multiplicity of definitions offered for the two concepts of euthanasia and assisted suicide, many arguments over the legality and moral soundness of both are presented. Despite the similarity between the two concepts, there is one useful distinction between the both of them. Euthanasia allows a physician to end a patient’s life in a painless manner, if granted permission by the patient and their family. In this case, the sole responsibility is put on the physician to bring the patient’s life to an end. Euthanasia is also broken down into two classifications.
There is voluntary versus involuntary and passive versus active. Voluntary euthanasia is conducted with consent from the patient but involuntary euthanasia is conducted with the consent of someone else, such as a close family member, because the patient is unable to make the decision. Passive euthanasia is the withholding of life-sustaining treatments in order to speed up the suicidal process. Active euthanasia is the use of lethal substances to end a patient’s life. The practice of active euthanasia is more controversial and brings about arguments of moral, religious, and ethical soundness. Assisted suicide only allows the physician to assist the patient in suicide if it is requested. The patient is most likely supplied with lethal substances which can be self administered. Although there is a distinction between them, they are most commonly argued for or against together.
The concepts of euthanasia and assisted suicide have been argued and debated since the 1800s. The “right to die” movement began to advocate for people’s right to euthanasia and assisted suicide. In 1938, the Euthanasia Society of America was founded in New York. The society lobbied for the acceptance of assisted suicide. In 1975, the ESA changed their name to the Society for the Right to Die. The following year, they had two major successes. The Natural Death Act was made law in California and the New Jersey Supreme Court reached a decision in their first ever “right to die” case. In 1980, The World Federation of Right to Die Societies was created to bring together all “organizations working to secure or protect the rights of individuals to self-determination at the end of their lives.” Other organizations have also formed such as the AAHS, Americans Against Human Suffering, to advocate for the same causes.
Analysis and Competing Arguments
Many sound and logical arguments are made for both sides of the issue. Different arguments are based on practical views, human rights, philosophy, and privacy. In the following section, I will identify many of the arguments made that both oppose and support the legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide and provide brief reasonings and explanations. I will first analyse the pro argument and follow with the anti argument. Pro and anti-euthanasia beliefs are mainly based around the uncertain answer of one question… Do humans have the right to die?
Pro-euthanasia advocates believe that humans have the right to die. Humans should be allowed to make the choice of how and when they die, these things should all be a matter of personal choice. The right to die comes along with the right to life. Throughout life, we are able to make an overwhelming amount of choices for ourselves; we can decide if we want to attend college, we can choose who we want to marry, and we decide what kinds of food we put into our bodies. Along with these other choices, humans should have choices when it comes to the ends of their lives, especially if no harm is being caused to anyone else. Many pro-euthanasia advocates take on an empathetic viewpoint and believe terminally ill patients need to be shown more mercy.
If someone has become victim to a terminal illness, they should have a choice about what happens to them. No one should be forced to live against their own will. When someone is suffering from intolerable and chronic pain, it is inhumane to deny them the choice of life or death. The inevitability of the matter is also brought into consideration. Euthanasia and suicides occur at alarming rates in the United States. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death; every year around 44,965 Americans die by suicide. If someone has made the decision to put their suffering to an end they will find a way to do it, by any means. If euthanasia and suicides are going to occur anyways, it is preferred that they are regulated. If people are allowed to make these decisions for themselves it would also have a freeing effect on scarce health resources.
Anti-euthanasia advocates believe the value and sanctity of life is being undermined. The practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide taint society’s respect for life. It also devalues the lives of the sick and disabled compared to others. Terminally ill and disabled people are now seen as less valuable as others. Many fear that voluntary euthanasia is the beginning of a slippery slope, which will lead to the act of involuntary euthanasia and the killing of ill patients who are considered valueless without consent. The belief that euthanasia would not be necessary if proper palliative care was being given is common. Palliative care is the specialized medical care for people with serious and life-threatening illnesses.
The practice of euthanasia also contradicts a physician’s role as a healer and caretaker, who should be dedicated to saving lives instead of ending them. The search for cures and new healing treatments for terminally ill patients will be discouraged. The practice of euthanasia directly goes against the Hippocratic Oath, which states that the aim of medicine is to heal and not to kill. The Hippocratic Oath is an oath which is historically taken by physicians and it requires physicians to uphold specific ethical standards. Physicians are given too much power and play the role of God, which is wrong when it comes to religious arguments. God has given us free will to do with our lives whatever we choose, but it is wrong for us to commit suicide. The actions of euthanasia and assisted suicide deny God and his right to choose the lengths of our lives and the way we die. Non-religious people believe that suffering has value and offers us opportunities to grow. Lastly, it is assumed that an overwhelming pressure will be put on terminally ill people to end their lives. They will begin to view themselves as burdens and look to these methods as a solution.
I do not agree with the practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. We are granted one life and we should treasure our blessings, whether they are successes or sufferings. God has a plan for everyone and to interfere with his plans for our lives is a great sin. My religion is the grounding of my moral compass. I hold strong to my faith and beliefs and cannot agree with something that strongly contradicts them.
Observations and Recommended Policy Changes
Many cases of assisted suicides and euthanasia have been reported in the recent years and have gained spotlight. In 2014, Britney Maynard, a California resident with stage four brain cancer moved to Oregon to exercise her right to assisted suicide. She was given lethal substances and chose to end her suffering at the age of 29, although she was urged by many to reconsider.
The legal standing of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the United States still varies from state to state. As of March 2018, euthanasia and assisted suicide is now legal in the following states: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, District of Columbia, and California. In the states of Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, and District of Columbia the right to assisted suicide is mandated by state law. In the states of Montana and California the right is mandated by court ruling. The methods by which people are approved for assisted suicide and euthanasia vary from state to state. For example, in District of Columbia, in order for a patient to receive a lethal substance, they must make two verbal requests to a physician, which are separated by fifteen days. The patient must also submit a written request 48 hours before their second verbal request, which is signed and dated. Although the practices of assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal in these few states, the debate over whether they should remain legal has not come to a halt.
In the state of California, the legal standing of physician-assisted suicide has gone through an irregular trial process. In May 2018, Daniel Ottolia, California’s Riverside Superior Court Judge, reversed the 2016 state law that allowed physicians to prescribe lethal substances to terminally ill patients. He views the law as unconstitutional because it was was passed by Legislature during a special session which was convened by Governor Jerry Brown for the purpose of addressing health care-related issues. On May 24, Judge Ottolia issued his judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and ended physician-assisted suicide in the state of California and a motion to vacate the judgment was rejected. In June 2018, the judgement which ended physician-assisted suicide was stayed in appeals court, which made it legal again in the state of California, which will remain pending until further litigation.
It is recommended that more efforts should be put towards understanding in people’s beliefs about death and developing programs to accommodate these differences. It also recommended that there be an improvement in care for terminally ill patients who are approaching death; the deficiencies of care for the dying need to be eliminated.
Conclusion
Although death is inevitable for all humans, it comes sooner to some. Scientific and medical advances have welcomed in new methods of ending suffering and pain felt by those with life-threatening illnesses. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are two methods at the center of historical arguments and questions. Should people be allowed to put an end to their pain and suffering along with the help of physicians? There are many answers to this question, coming from practical, religious, and historical viewpoints. There are logical arguments made for both sides of the argument which makes it all the more difficult for a conclusion to be reached on the issue.
The improvement of care for those near death will lessen the demand for the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, which will require changes in policies and actions. People need to be able to trust they will be treated well as they die. As humans, we all face death, is it our right to decide when we want to die? As Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami, believes “ Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.” Perhaps it is time for us to change way we view death, in hopes of having a better understanding and acceptance of it.
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Euthanasia and Cancer
Peter is a 64-year-old who decided to take early retirement to enjoy life and not work so hard. He decided it was time to enjoy his grandchildren and like any other typical retiree enjoy traveling. Recently having built a house in Morelos, Mexico it was time to enjoy it. Peter has always been the life of the party. Anyone who meets him instantly falls in love with the person he is. He is a hard worker, compassionate, very dependable person. He will take the shirt off his back to help you. As you get older you start feeling the aches and pain that comes along with aging and Peter was starting to feel it or so he thought it was from aging. After a routine checkup he is told to immediately go to the hospital there was something abnormal in his blood work.
After spending four days in the hospital going through many testing, Peter is given the worst news you can possibly get. Three words you never want to hear come out of your doctor’s mouth “ You have cancer”. Being diagnosed with a terminal disease can be devastating not only for the patient but also for the family and friends. After overcoming from the initial shock you want many answers to questions you might have. Many questions will remain unanswered or it is not the response you were hoping for. All you know is that being diagnosed with a terminal disease, the end result is going to be death. Therefore, Euthanasia should be offered and allowed for these cases. The three main reasons why Euthanasia should be allowed are these patients have no chance of recovery, shortens suffering, and after all, they have the right to a “good death”.
Being diagnosed with a terminal disease basically means there is no cure and no chance of recovering from the illness. There is no nice or easy way a doctor can give you such devastating news. Many feelings run through your body. Feelings of anger, sadness, and denial are the most common. Your body feels numb, you have tunnel vision, and it seems as if you can not comprehend anything else after being told you are dying. Many can not process the thought of having a painful death. These deaths of a terminal ill patient are not only painful for the patient but also for the family and friends. There is no right or wrong way to deal with death. Just like there is no correct way to react to the diagnosis. Priorities will need to be put in place and decisions will need to be made.
For many talking about planning your funeral is like the big elephant in the room, you simply don’t want to acknowledge it. That is when Euthanasia is usually considered. According to Wikipedia Euthanasia comes from the Greek word “eu” meaning “good” and “Thanatos” meaning “death”. (Wikipedia 2018) The definition is “ the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering”. (Wikipedia 2018)Everyone wants to have a “good death” or painless one. Dying in your sleep is a good example of a good death or even a sudden death can be considered good because it is quick and you do not feel it. Euthanasia allows the doctor, with the patient’s consent, to administer a lethal dose of medication which ends the suffering and the patient dies. The first time it was actually used in medical context was by Francis Bacon in the 17th Century. (Wikipedia 2018).
Additionally, I now understand that I am dying and I am living. Dying is a part of living and living is a part of dying. Every day I remind myself that knowing I am dying offers me the opportunity to be my best self, to spend the time I have left by living fully in the present.
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Nurse Practitioner Career Research
One of the careers I’m thinking of pursuing is called a Nurse Practitioner, or an APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse).
Three significant and basic points for a nurse practitioner are:
1) Nurse practitioners can prescribe medicines by earning a license that is accepted in all 50 states, 2) All nurse practitioners all have master’s degrees, or even doctorate degrees, along with clinical training and advanced medical education, and 3) It is known that patients who have practitioners as their nurses visit the emergency room less often and have shorter hospital stays, resulting in lower out-of-pocket costs.
All points of fact are from the website www.comphealth.com, article title called “11 Facts about Nurse Practitioners.“
EDUCATION AND LICENSURE
As said in the previous section, the requirement for becoming a nurse practitioner is to have an MSN (Master of Science and Nursing) or a DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice). Most NPs start off as regular registered nurses. Once the required degree is earned, it is nationally accepted but through different states, it can vary; in one state, the nurse practitioner can work independently while in another, the NP will need another nurse practitioner or doctor to supervise her or collaborate with her. In order to achieve the essential degree, it can be through online or on-campus options.
EMPLOYMENT, JOB OUTLOOK, AND EARNINGS
Nurses Practitioners can work in a variety of environments, such as: hospitals, acute care, and ambulatory care settings (citing from www.innerbody.com). Although NPs can work practically anywhere in the healthcare industry, the job outlook also varies within each state and region. In New York, there are about 10,310 nurse practitioners employed while in Columbus, IN, the average annual salary for NPs are $146,450. Basically speaking, in both New York and Indiana, there is a large amount of competition for employment and money. The average amount of money that nurse practitioners receive per year is: $97,990.
REQUIRED STRENGTHS FOR NPS AND MY OPINION
The required strengths for nurse practitioners are: Compassion, Communication, Ethics, Critical Thinking, Attention to Detail, Confidence, Adaptability, Stamina, and Commitment to Development.
The Strengths that I think I have are:
Compassion, Ethics, Attention to Detail, Confidence, and Adaptability.
Starting with Compassion, I think I definitely have it mainly because I’m known by my peers and family that I’m nice, or polite when it comes to first impressions. I also feel that I have a natural feeling to be kind towards everyone around me. Ethics is easy for me because I have my motives and morals down pat. I do, however, know that my motives and morals will differentiate with others, so I will be considerate of that (this ties in with my Compassion as well). For Attention to Detail and Adaptability, I am observant of my surroundings, which include people and objects. Since I can notice the small things, this helps me with adapting to my future co-workers and especially my future patients. Lastly, I do think I have confidence, but my confidence level tends to be a rollercoaster, which varies with the situation and whether I’m prepared or not.
The other traits that a nurse practitioner should have are my weaknesses, or something I need to work on, which are:
Communication, Critical Thinking, Stamina, and Commitment to Development.
For Communication, I don’t consider myself a very good starter at conversations. Holding one with someone is completely fine with me, but actually starting one with somebody I don’t know is complicated. I at least want to be able to speak in another language before I get in the workplace. Critical Thinking might be a problem for me, but I have realized that I can work under pressure (sometimes). If I know what to do, I work quick and efficiently. If I don’t know the procedure or if I’m not prepared/ready, I freeze and try to figure out the situation at hand. I don’t think I have enough stamina for the healthcare workplace, but I am going improve on it by building it up little by little, or exercising. Last but not least, I do like learning new things, especially if they help me or others in the daily life, but I don’t think I would be able to commit to that. Like my confidence, my commitment is also like a rollercoaster, meaning it doesn’t have consistency. One day I’ll be really focused on the topic of discussion, another day I’ll lose interest.
CONCLUSION
Overall, my reason for wanting this job in the future is because I want to follow in my mother’s footsteps. She is an RN at the Rio Grande Regional Hospital, and is studying in an online course in order to become a psychiatrist, but for right now, a nurse practitioner. Plus, I want to help my family in case one member gets sick, and there’s a probability of less money involved.
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MS Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Nursing Program
My name is Dakota Allen, MS Family Nurse Practitioner is the SUNY graduate nursing program that I intend on pursuing.
For the past year and seven months, I have been working as a registered nurse on St. Luke’s Progressive Care Unit (PCU). For the most part I work dayshift but have also explored what nightshift life is like! Working in a critical care area has allowed me to strengthen and build upon my basic nursing skill set, while laying the foundation to continue on as a nurse practitioner. In the PCU, one never knows what a twelve hour shift brings. My time in the PCU has given me the opportunity to see health issues across the medical spectrum. On a daily basis I have dealt with multiple pharmacological drips, ventilators, tube feeds, surgical sites, psychological matters and more. Being BLS, ACLS, ENLS, and Stroke/NIH certified, every other month we respond to rapid responses throughout the hospital. These create an environment for quick assessment, judgement, critical thinking, and implementing of treatment. Managing various patients with multiple medical comorbidities, has built a strong groundwork for myself, as I continue into graduate school and then on into the professional world as a nurse practitioner.
Expanding my knowledge in the nursing profession has always been a main priority. My plan is to continue to work as a registered nurse at PCU, while working towards my Masters’. As it becomes time for clinical experiences to be incorporated in course work, I plan to decrease the amount of hours I work as a staff registered nurse, as already discussed with my nurse manager and colleagues. With time management, focused organization, and determination, much can be accomplished.
One significant modern day issue in the United States healthcare system is the advancement in medical technologies and how this growth creates ethical dilemmas regarding end-of-life care. Frequently, this issue is seen on the PCU in my day to day work. Families and patients struggle between longevity of life versus quality of life. Our ethical issue, as healthcare professionals, is balancing the act of respecting one’s autonomy in decision-making, and being able to carry out our duties without causing harm (Karnik & Kanekar, 2016). As future nurse practitioners, we can help address this issue by providing detailed information about advance directives. We can better educate the public on the benefits versus risks of treatment. As frontline healthcare providers, through communication, we can help bridge the gap, regarding goals and treatment of care, between patients, their families, and physicians (Karnik & Kanekar, 2016).
In applying for graduate study as a nurse practitioner, I am enthusiastic about taking the step towards reaching my dream and broadening my horizons in the career field.
Reference:
Karnik, S. & Karekar, A. (2016). Ethical Issues Surrounding End-of-Life Care: A Narrative Review. Healthcare, 4, 21-34. doi: 10.3390/healthcare4020024
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The Role of a Nurse Practioner
The role of medicine is comparable to other occupations that could be considered “the supporters” of the community. Nurse practitioners work with many other people including their patients, paramedics, surgeons, and etcetera. In order to become a nurse practitioner, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. This particular career choice could be more than enough to support one's everyday life. There are many contributions healthcare has towards different communities. In the field of medicine, there is a large amount of schooling that is necessary. First of all, you will need to acquire a high school diploma. According to Madera Unified School District, one is required to complete 120 credits in order to graduate. Also, one must maintain a 2.6 GPA throughout four years of high school. During senior year, the pre-employment skills must be passed by completing a Portfolio and Mock Interview with a score of 4 or higher. The next step would be to complete an application to attend the University of San Diego. In order to be accepted into the University of San Diego, it is a requirement to have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA during high school. For the SAT they focus on the highest score of 1240 from a single test date (UCSD). Each UC campus is able to offer admission to a few students who might not be able to meet all of these requirements.
According to admissions officials at the University of San Diego, the process includes the need to obtain an applicant's secondary school record, application essay, standardized test scores, demonstrated talents, and GPA are the most significant factors in the admissions process. Admissions officials may also consider a student's character and whether the applicant is a first-generation college student. The admissions office will then reach out to you if you are chosen to be admitted and there you will need to take four years of prerequisites. After those four years, you will need to apply to a medical school for another four years. All of these steps taken prepare you for a future in becoming a nurse practitioner. The basic description of being a nurse practitioner is diagnosing and treating acute, episodic, or chronic illnesses, independently or as part of a healthcare team. A nurse practitioner needs to be able to provide patients with information needed to advocate health, reduce risk factors, and/or prevent disease or disability. They need to know when and how to perform routine or annual physical examinations.
Also, a really good quality that people in the healthcare field should have is how to speak to others clearly and effectively to be able to convey information. They need to be able to actively look for ways to always help people. Becoming a nurse practitioner has many advantages to your desired lifestyle. A nurse, on average, makes about $126,770 per year in the state of California (California Career Zone). One day I would eventually like to settle down and start my own independent life. One of my main goals is to be able to buy my own house in San Diego, California and spend my free time going to the movies weekly. Also, I would love my own new car to be able to go out and buy food for my house so I am able to cook good meals. Lastly, I would like to save 10% of what I spend. My monthly costs would be $4,689 and annually I would need to make $56,271 to be able to enjoy the way I want to live. My future career will potentially be enough to support the things I desire. Not too many people have that mindset to get prepared during high school. It is really important to stay focused and to be persistent with your goals.
Healthcare has different roles in the community but the basic role for most hospitals has been to supply severe inpatient and emergency care to people needing those services. So with improvements with technology and the constant growth in the number of patients with long-term illness, hospitals are giving a lot more services in outpatient areas and to a growing number of patients with long-term illness. Health care also helps to attain economies of scale and increase market share. The community benefit is normally explained as hospital activities that are willful to recognize community needs and priorities primarily through disease prevention and improvement of health status (The Contribution of Hospitals and Healthcare Systems to Community Health). A nurse practitioner works with various different people in the health care community daily. They can work with ambulances who bring their patients so that they are able to treat them. Nurse Practitioners can also work with various pharmacies to write prescriptions and also other lower level nurses who could potentially work with them. They also need to be able to work with the patients so that they can assess and control the problem.
All of these things must be useful in order to keep the healthcare system intact and running smooth. Today counts, as does everyday until you achieve the career goal of being a nurse practitioner. All of the above steps prepare you for your possible career. Especially if you know that you are going to desire many things that a nurse practitioner is able to afford. Healthcare has enormous impacts on everyone in the community. I feel that nursing is the career for me so far. Things could possibly change in the near future but for now, that is my goal because from my how I see it, nurses are the true heart of a hospital. They spend time and effort to make sure patients get the very best care by spending quality time with them. It helps knowing someone is there for you if you ever feel alone. Nurses are also willing to spend time with colleagues to share their knowledge. The basic necessity of helping people and that wonderful feeling of actually being with them through their road to recovery seems to be very rewarding. That is what I strive to become and do for everyone in the community and maybe even the world one day.
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Nurse Practitioner Personal Statement
Growing up in a rural community helped develop my core beliefs of family, community, compassion, honesty, and loyalty. It also taught me that anything deserving requires hard work. Becoming a Nurse Practitioner through Lincoln Memorial University will provide a lifelong career that has meaning and value to me. My goal is to provide advanced care in a rural underserved community where I can form close bonds with my patients and families in need of healthcare and gain their trust as a respected practitioner. I believe education and prevention play a huge role in primary care and that would be a main focus of mine while practicing. Lincoln Memorial University believes that a major cornerstone of meaningful existence is service to humanity and that speaks volumes to me. The community I grew up in gave me so many opportunities and helped mold me into the person I am today. Ultimately, I want to give back to rural communities in the way they’ve given to me and really impact people’s lives who need it most.
My interest in nursing started during high school when I took a health science class. I volunteered at a nursing home and soon discovered through the interactions with the patients how comforting a conversation, smile, or helpful hand could be. I developed close relationships with some of the patients and will always cherish not what I did for them, but what they taught me about life. At this time I realized how important the connection I made with these patients was, and it solidified my desire to pursue nursing.
During my two and a half years of bedside nursing in critical care, I have learned a great deal about myself. There are many experiences I have to reflect on but one will always stand out to me. I had a patient and family who had been waiting all day for the results of a lung biopsy.
Finally, around 1600 the doctor came in and broke the news that the patient had stage 4 lung cancer and three months to live. I could see the shock and numbness flood the patient and family members’ bodies. The doctor continued talking very quickly giving them their options and then just walked out of the room as if nothing had happened. The family was in such a state of shock they hadn’t even heard their “options.” I explained everything to them on a more personal level and just sat with them for a moment trying to help them process the information. They were very appreciative that I had taken the time to do so. This experience alone made me realize I wanted to do primary care. Making relationships with my patients and building trust through holistic quality care is extremely important to me. It is so easy to become desensitized to these types of situations and become too busy to take time to sit down with patients and listen to their stories, but I like to remind myself that each patient is going through a very vulnerable and possibly life-changing experience. They deserve the same type of respect I would give a family member going through the same situation.
I love being a nurse but have a desire to learn more. Obtaining an advanced degree will increase my overall understanding of the whole picture of the disease process. For example, learning what goes into education, prevention, diagnosing and treating of patients. As a family nurse practitioner education and prevention would be a main focus of mine. Chronic diseases are a major cause of death and many of these are preventable. As a critical care nurse, I have seen a lot of chronic diseases that have progressed to late stages and always wonder if there would have been a different outcome had prevention played a role in this patient’s life early on. A lot of time as an Advance Practice Registered Nurse would be devoted to education and health promotion through counseling sessions on important topics, regular check-ups, and routine screenings. I have a particular interest in cancer prevention and screenings because personally, I have seen many family members get diagnosed at late stages. This is something I want to help prevent for other families by appropriately educating and screening. Having interactions with nurse practitioners on my unit and seeing how much knowledge they have, not only of the health concern but also of the patients themselves has left an impression on me. To truly treat patients holistically in every aspect is what I aspire to do.
Ultimately rural communities have my heart as I am from a rural community. Volunteering with Remote Area Medical has allowed me to see what serving an underserving population looks like as they offer free clinics to people who have no insurance. For some of these patients, it is the only access they have to healthcare all year. As a family nurse practitioner, I would want nothing more than to provide healthcare to these types of populations. With little to no access to healthcare, these people need the most help. It would be so rewarding to make this kind of impact on a community. When time would allow I would also love to travel internationally for medical missions and be a leader in a global society.
My upbringing, work, and education thus far have helped define who I am, and who I would like to become. I have selected your program because of your excellent academic reputation, your dedication to current and future research and your commitment to educating healthcare providers serving in rural communities. I feel I am ready to succeed in your program and that I have the skills necessary to excel.
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Nurse Practitioner Job Description
Doctors used to work more than one hundred hours a week and sometimes shifts longer than twenty-four hours. This was changed due to the Libby Zion Case, where an eighteen-year-old college student named Libby Zion died due to what her father believed to be overworked interns and doctors. A medical professional is now allowed to work no more than eighty hours a week and must not work a shift longer than twenty-four hours. Doctors are able to diagnose a person with ailments and prescribe medications. Doctors also may refer patients with diseases such as cancer or brain injuries to other doctors who have specialties in that area, such as oncologists or neurologists. According to a study conducted by the American Medical Association in February of 2017, of the one thousand two hundred doctors, residents and interns interviewed nine out of ten were satisfied and happy with their career choice. The study also names that some reasons why doctors chose to become doctors as their career. The top reasons named are how they or a loved member of their family were treated or for personal experience as a volunteer. A nurse practitioner is a person who is trained, independent, licensed healthcare clinician and focuses on managing a person’s health conditions, including treating illnesses and injuries. They also support injury prevention. Nurse practitioners can also prescribe medication.
The majority of nurse practitioners have a specialty in which they practice in. Some of these specialties that are common choices are pediatrics, family practices, and women’s health. Sub-specialties may even be chosen and are in areas such as oncology, dermatology, psychiatry, cardiology and behavioral health. To become a nurse practitioner, you must first obtain an undergraduate degree in nursing. You must then gain experience as a registered nurse. The next step to becoming a nurse practitioner is to earn a graduate degree. This could be a Master’s of Science in Nursing, or MSN, or a Doctor of Nursing Practice, or DNP. MSN’s are typically two to three years full time, and focus on advanced nursing subjects such as pharmacology and pathophysiology. DNP’s, however, are typically three to four years long, more clinically focused than research, and focuses on a deeper understanding of MSN subjects, including coursework in evidence-based practice, diagnostics, and disease treatment. There is a small movement toward a required DNP to become a nurse practitioner, but the majority of states still require just an MSN degree. After a graduate degree is acquired, a person must pass a Nurse Practitioner license test. To be a candidate for Nurse Practitioner licensure, a person must hold a master’s degree in nursing, a valid RN license.
Nurse practitioners work in private practices and in hospitals. There is currently a nursing shortage which means that there is an abundance of nurse practitioner jobs available. Hospital have begun to hire more nurse practitioners to offset the amount of work and pressure that are put on other hospital personnel. Nurse practitioners earned an average of $97,990 as of May 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the highest paid specialties for nurse practitioner is Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiology. CRNA’s make an average of $153,780 a year as of May 2014. A survey conducted by Medstudy Nurse Center found that out of 3,417 nurse practitioners an tremendous number said that they are happy with their choice to become a nurse. According to this study, eighty two percent of nurse practitioners claimed that they would choose nursing as their profession again if given the choice.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be a thirty percent increase in jobs for nurse practitioners from 2016 to 2026. Working in the medical field gives many people a grand sense of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Doctors and nurse practitioners alike enjoy their jobs and do their best to care for thir patients to the best of their ability. However, there are more upsides to becoming a nurse practitioner than a doctor. A Doctor of Nursing Practice degree cost vastly less than a medical degree. Nurse practitioners also spend much less time working toward a degree than doctors do. Nurse practitioner’s salaries, compared to those of doctors are much better compared to the payment per hour. In comparison, according to bestmedicaldegrees.com, a doctor’s lifetime income after their loan debt is around $4.7 million dollars. Their lifetime hours worked is 142,989. When this is adjusted, this comes out to $33.03 an hour. When you compare this salary to a high school teacher, doctors earn three cents less an hour. This is a very upsetting statistic that is greatly overlooked. Nurse practitioners, however, have a payment that is much better proportioned to their level o schooling. Being a nurse practitioner is a much better option due to payment, hours, school loans, and education required is much less harsh than that of a person who has went through the process of becoming a doctor.
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Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Skills of Acute Care Nurse Practitioners
- Salary
- From Their Point of View
- Need and Outlook for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners
- Conclusion
To become an acute care nurse practitioner one must first earn a degree in nursing from a two to four-year program and be certified as a registered nurse (RN). They then gain experience in the acute care setting, usually two to three years, and return to school to achieve an advanced degree. A Master’s degree in Nursing (MSN) or higher education, such as a doctorate, in nursing is required. The Master’s programs are given through a two-year program. About 40 credit hours of classes is required to achieve this degree, along with hundreds of hours of clinical experience (“What Acute Care…” 2018). This Master’s degree must be a program specific to acute care nurse practitioners (“Your Guide to Certification” 2001). The next step is to become certified by the State Board of Nursing or through a certain agency, such as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. When certified the new acute care nurse practitioner is able to practice based on the guidelines set by the state they are working in (“What Acute Care…” 2018).
Skills of Acute Care Nurse Practitioners
The skills required to be a successful acute care nurse practitioner can be summarized by Susan Yeager, MS, RN, CCRN, ACNP when giving an interview for the Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Yeager described that the skills needed to be an acute care nurse practitioner build from the foundation of skills required for a registered nurse (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” 2010). Skills required of a nurse include flexibility, communication and humility, along with many others such as independence, integrity and compassion (Berman, Kozier, Erb, 2016).
Flexibility or adaptability is a skill needed because often times a problem or change will come up and you will need to be able to adapt to that change. For example, a patient may come in with a broken leg and you begin treating the leg, but then they suddenly begin vomiting. The nurse practitioner must adapt their care plan to the immediate need of the patient, which is to stop the vomiting. Nurse practitioners also have schedules that often change and include night or weekend shifts, even shifts on the holidays.
Communication is an essential skill needed for any health care professional, but an acute care nurse practitioner must be an expert. An acute care nurse practitioner will often be the leader of a health care team therefore good communication is needed for many reasons. Some of these examples include determining if a treatment is working, knowing what the patient is complaining of such as pain, and knowing what medications have been given. Another reason an acute care nurse practitioner needs good communication is because they have to communicate with the patient about their condition and the treatments they will receive. For communication to be effective, the acute care nurse practitioner must also listen to the patient. These professionals will listen to things such as the patient’s concerns, symptoms that they are experiencing, and what actions would make the patient’s care better.
Humility, more specifically cognitive humility, is an important skill for any healthcare professional to have. Cognitive humility is the ability to recognize that you do not know everything. It is important because you will be approached with a problem that you will not have a solution for. It would be better to admit that you do not understand the situation, rather than pretend you know what is going on and possibly put the patient in great danger. This would provide yourself with an opportunity to bring in a more knowledgeable professional to give the patient the best care possible.
This profession works in tense and demanding situations, so they experience many challenges within the workplace. Some of these include constant unplanned interruptions, heightened level of stress with an acute illness, and gathering data from a distressed patient (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” 2010). Unplanned interruptions within the health care setting is a normal thing to see, but an acute care nurse practitioner must be flexible and ready when they happen. Nurse practitioners will often be in the middle of a procedure or important conversation with a family and their pager will be going off with a patient in need of their assistance (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” 2010).
When someone has an acute illness it is often painful and intense, which can increase the stress of the patient and their family. This can be a challenge because the acute care nurse practitioner must communicate to them the severity and difficulty of illness. An example of this would be having to tell a patient that they must have a risky surgery. This is would cause stress and confusion for the patient and their family (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner” 2010). Another example would be performing an assessment on an acutely ill patient. When a patient is admitted in the hospital a health care professional must do an assessment on them. In an acute care setting this can be a challenge because the patient is usually in distress and pain. They will not be interested in answering certain questions. The acute care nurse practitioner must then use their skills to relieve some of the patient’s pain and try to get as much information as possible.
Salary
The salary of an acute care nurse practitioner can range depending on the facility and region they work in. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the median income for advanced practice nurses, including acute care nurse practitioners, is $100,910 per year (“Career Profile” 2018). Their salary is also influenced by these professionals specialty. The 2011 National Salary Report published a number of salaries of acute care nurse practitioners based on populations and work settings they chose. Those who work in emergency settings earn the most with a salary of $103,722. Acute care nurse practitioners that specialize in pediatrics earn $82,101 per year. Those who specialize in gerontology earn $94,485 per year (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP)” 2018).
From Their Point of View
Acute care nurse practitioners have been surveyed discussing their point of view of their career choice. In 1999 Ruth Kleinpell sent surveys to those who had recently taken the acute care nurse practitioner exam. Kleinpell conducted this study to find out the role development and employment patterns of newly certified acute care nurse practitioners. The results indicated that these professionals were able to interpret diagnostic tests, examine and clean wounds, initiate discharge planning, among many other skills. Almost all of the study participants stated that they were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their profession. They also said that they were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with collaborations with physicians and other health care professionals (Kleinpell 1999).
Need and Outlook for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners in acute care settings have become a valuable part of the healthcare facilities. The need for acute care nurse practitioners has increased in past years due to the accessible high-quality care that is needed. With the growing elderly population, due to the aging “baby boomer” generation, this level of care is needed even more in the near future. This population is also primarily based in rural or non-urban areas, so there will be more need in these areas (Berman, Kozier, Erb, 2016).
As stated before, acute care nurse practitioners are able to provide equal or even higher quality of care compared to physicians and physician assistants. Susan Yeager even stated that “the variety of opportunities in unique settings grow. I can envision this leading to an environment where nurse practitioners can consult nurse practitioners” (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioner 2010). Yeager goes on to predict that nurse practitioners will become experts in medical procedures and continue in providing excellent care (“Acute Care Nurse Practitioners” 2010). The role of the acute care nurse practitioner is one that is growing need and in value. It is also expanding in responsibilities. With their flexibility and willingness to learn the future of acute care nurse practitioners is exciting and unlimited.
Conclusion
Acute care nurse practitioners are valuable members of a health care team that provide excellent care to the patients. The profession of acute care nurse practitioner is one that is challenging and offers great reward. They are a valuable member of a healthcare team and they provide excellent care. They are able to work in a number of health care settings and provide care to all types of populations. Acute care nurse practitioners are able to provide the same level of care as other professionals with medical degrees, including physicians and physician assistants. Patients have even said that the care they received from nurse practitioners exceeds that of physician assistants.
The education of acute care nurse practitioners has greatly expanded within the last 20 years. There are now programs available throughout the United States that provide excellent preparation for their career in the medical field. Certification through a test allows the new acute care nurse practitioner to practice. However, they will have to research state regulations to fully understand what they are able to do.
The acute care nurse practitioner is a profession that requires many skills that will help the person to deal with different situations. These include adaptability, cognitive humility and good communication. With these skills mastered and excellent education the need and performance of an acute care nurse practitioner will be first-rate.
References
A Day in the Life of an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP). (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2018 Career Profile: Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2018 Fox, K. (2014). The Role of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the Implementation of the Commission on Cancer’s Standards on Palliative Care. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18, 39–44. Haut, C., & Madden, M. (2015). Hiring appropriate providers for different populations: acute care nurse practitioners. Critical Care Nurse, 35(3), e1–e8. Horrocks, S., Anderson, E., & Salisbury, C. (2002). Systematic Review Of Whether Nurse Practitioners Working In Primary Care Can Provide Equivalent Care To Doctors. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 324(7341), 819-823. Kleinpell RM. (1999). Evolving role descriptions of the acute care nurse practitioner. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 21(4), 9–15. Morton, P. (1999). A New Role: Acute Care NP. The American Journal of Nursing, 99(8), 24A-24E. doi:10.2307/3472171 What Acute Care Nurse Practitioners Do. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2018 Your Guide to Certification. (2001). The American Journal of Nursing, 101(1), 40-49. Berman, Kozier, Erb, A., Kozier, B., & Erb, G. L. (2016). Kozier and Erbs fundamentals of nursing: Concepts, process and practice. Sydney, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia. Nurse Practitioner Vs. Physician Assistant. (2018, September 06). Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP). (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2018 Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. (2010, May). Retrieved October 4, 2018
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Implementing a Nurse Practitioner Orientation Program
Nurse practitioner orientation is a relatively new but progressive topic and is usually found within the context of APRN models of care, APRN fellowship programs, or departmental orientations within hospital-based organizations. Orientating novice NPs into a hospital-based organization involves transition and are created to integrate the employee within the organization (Meleis, 2010; Meleis, Sawyer, Im, Messias, & Schumacher, 2000). Additionally, orientation is a type of experienced transition that involves finding cohesion within the organization while building clinical proficiency (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Coble, 2014). Transitioning into practice is experienced by all nurse practitioners whether novice or skilled, however it is agreed by several researchers that the transition period of novice NPs tend be more dramatic (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Brown & Olshansky, 1997; Coble, 2014; Horner, 2017).
PICOT
In novice nurse practitioners, does a structured nurse practitioner orientation program improve competency outcomes in a 12-month period at the Veteran Affairs North Texas Healthcare System?
Importance of Topic
Healthcare reform and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has led to the evaluation and modifications in health care delivery (Obama, 2016). The objectives of healthcare reform are to provide affordable and quality health care while increasing access to care in the United States (Collins & Saylor, 2018). These objectives have become vastly examined in hospital organizations and nurses will serve as the catalysts to lead in implementing effective solutions (Collins & Saylor, 2018). Nurses are the largest profession within healthcare and because of their adaptability, the nursing profession has the potential to effect a vast amount of necessary changes in the health care system (Institute of Medicine, 2011). There have been numerous studies that have demonstrated the association of nursing and patient outcomes. In 2000, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reexamined issues of nurse staffing and patient outcomes, thus concluding that health is directly correlated by how well patients are cared for by nurses (Kohn, Corrigan, Donaldson, & Institute of Medicine, 2000). Nurses have the ability to assess strengths and weaknesses within healthcare systems and therefore can provide leadership to improve access, quality, and safety while reducing healthcare costs within organizations (Needleman & Hassmiller, 2009). Furthermore, nurse practitioners (NPs) are the largest advanced practice registered nurses whom are poised to assist with the access to care gaps, coordinating complex care for widespread populations, and serving as primary providers while practicing to their full scope of training and education (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Despite being well matched to serve the needs of Americans, NPs are faced with many challenges (Institute of Medicine, 2011; Kohn et al., 2000). There are more than 248,000 NPs in the U.S., and 49.9% hold hospital privileges (AANP, n.d.). The rapid growth of the hospital-based NP has led to unforeseen challenges, role confusion, inadequate support, and fragmented onboarding processes (Bahouth & Esposito-Herr, 2009). Novice NPs tend to experience more difficulties transitioning within hospital organizations which can subsequently lead to unfavorable competency outcomes (Bahouth, Blum, & Simone, 2013; Bahouth & Esposito-Herr, 2009).
Review of Literature
A literature review was conducted on NP orientation and common concepts were encountered throughout the literature review and grouped accordingly. It was discovered that most employing hospitals offer no or limited NP orientation programs with such programs varying from nonexistent to a few weeks in duration (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). In several organizations, NP orientation is often grouped with registered nurse programs, provided with limited guidance, or does not occur (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Metzger & Rivers, 2014). Additionally, there have been instances when key resources were not made available, contributing to inefficiency start up processes and patient safety (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). As a result, novice NPs experience job dissatisfaction, stagnant professional growth, improper use of skills within their scope of practice, lack of appropriate reporting structures, and dysfunctional colleague collaboration (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Karen A. & Mona P., 2009). This in turn can lead to high NP turnover rates in a time where the shortage of primary care providers is prevalent.
Organizational Culture and Socialization
Acclimating into the organization, establishing rapports with colleagues, absorbing the organizational culture, and the formal or informal rules of the organizational environment are integral to the success of the NP (Bahouth et al., 2013; Brown & Olshansky, 1997; Horner, 2017). Because the NP must adapt to the culture of the organization, the orientee must thoroughly understand how the organization functions. Culture represents the morals, values, and behavior of an organization and can be influential of personnel and healthcare teams which in turn, influences quality (Johnson, Nguyen, Groth, & White, 2018; Rovithis et al., 2017). Furthermore, the attitude towards NPs within an organization can facilitate or disrupt the success of the transition and has been linked to medical errors, accidents, and poor outcomes of the patient and the provider (Marshall, 2011; Poghosyan, Nannini, Finkelstein, Mason, & Shaffer, 2013; Rovithis et al., 2017).
Organizational socialization has been acknowledged as essential for the integration of employees into a hospital-based organization (Ahmadian, Soori, Ghaderi, Hejrat, & Mow, 2016; Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). Socialization facilitates the psychological health of the novice NP and enhances developmental skills (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). Additionally, socialization assists with isolation reduction, encourages hospital activity participation, and facilitates networking while providing the NP a sense of belonging (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). Organizational socialization has been found to positively influence role transition, clinical development, knowledge, and engagement, thus improving competency outcomes (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Korte, 2007; Meleis, 2010; Meleis et al., 2000; Poghosyan et al., 2013).
Preceptor and Didactic Education
Preceptors should serve as clinical educators, role models, facilitators, and evaluators (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). As clinical educators, preceptors assist with the developmental transition of the NP. Preceptors support the expansion of critical thinking and technical skills, time management, and communications with clients and staff (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). The preceptor is an important evaluator by measuring the NPs strengths, weakness, progression, and competency measurements (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Bahouth & Esposito-Herr, 2009).
Didactic education consists of courses, conferences, presentations, journal clubs, and ground rounds (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013). Some hospital-based organizations already offer lunch and learn with a wide range of topics depending on the medical specialty. Didactic education is continuing education for NP and will enhance the developmental transition and facilitate expert providers (Horner, 2017).
Mentorship and Collaboration
Mentorship links the gap between education and reality and is important to the success of the NPs transition and job satisfaction (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Horner, 2017). Mentors are not clinical preceptors. Mentors enhance the professional and personal growth of the NP through navigating their career path and facilitating advancement of the practice. A mentor is nurturing, supportive, and influences development of the role (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013; Horner, 2017).
Collaboration is an essential relationship among hospital-based NPs. Collaboration not only encompasses physician communication, it includes nursing, hospital administration, and other departmental relationships. Collaboration involves teaching and learning from others on the healthcare team and results in positive team relations (Bahouth, Blum, et al., 2013).
Epidemiological Evidence
The overall fiscal health of an organization is primarily measured by employee retention and job satisfaction (Kurnat-Thoma, Ganger, Peterson, & Channell, 2017). Epidemiologic evidence was not located specifically to NPs for the Veterans Affairs North Texas Healthcare System and the oversight of recruitment and retention initiatives for nurses within all Veteran’s Hospital Administration (VHA) is limited. Training resources and the efficacy of nurse recruitment and retention goals have not been evaluated or monitored regularly (GAO, 2015). The government accountability office (GAO) found that VHA lacked adequate training support within medical centers and were unable to determine whether nurses were effectively meeting the health care needs of the veteran (GAO. 2015). In 2015, the GAO selected four medical centers to evaluate their nurse recruitment and training programs. One medical center had experienced high levels of nurse dissatisfaction with leadership and subsequently experienced a twelve percent turnover rate for NPs in 2014 (GAO, 2015). This left the medical center inadequately staffed and consequently affected access and quality of care for veterans (GAO, 2015). In 2011, the VHA began requiring medical centers to provide a Transition to Practice initiative, however the Office of Nursing Services (ONS) informed that funding was not provided to the medical centers thus the medical centers were left with their own funding determinations (GAO, 2015). Consequently, most medical centers recruited and hired only experienced nurses (GAO, 2015).
Job Satisfaction
There is a high probability that a novice NP will leave an organization within the first year if dissatisfied with the organizational orientation (Ziegler, 2018). Essentially, any professional workforce was found to be dependent on the satisfaction of employees (Faraz, 2017; Scruth, Garcia, & Buchner, 2018). However, there are few research studies on the concept of job satisfaction related to novice NPs experience within the first year of employment. No data existed specific to novice NPs and job satisfaction within the Veteran Affairs North Texas Health Care System. According to Faraz (2017), NPs specifically demonstrated critical factors in the workplace linked to retention: professional autonomy, professional and interpersonal relationships, job benefits, and time allotted to complete work. Other studies indicated support of the NP role from colleagues and hospital administration, mentorship, and a thorough orientation were the most significant influences of job satisfaction (Duke, 2010).
Outcomes
Recommendations for Best Practice
NPs are a diverse group of providers with unique concerns that do not fit exclusively into the categorizations of nursing or medicine (Metzger & Rivers, 2014). For hospitals to meet the healthcare needs of their communities, novice NPs will require a properly structured orientation program to successfully transition within the hospital setting (Bahouth et al., 2013; Bahouth & Esposito-Herr, 2009; Metzger & Rivers, 2014). The general orientation plan should encompass several components directed towards clinical knowledge, development and growth, thus improving competency outcomes (Bahouth, Ackerman, et al., 2013; Bahouth, Blum, & Simone, 2012; Metzger & Rivers, 2014; Yeager S, 2010). Orientation programs should include preceptorship, mentorship, didactic education content, and effective collaboration (Bahouth et al., 2013). These key components will ensure accountability for tracking and affirming clinical decisions while assisting NPs to master intricate concepts. (Bahouth et al., 2013). Another example of building clinical proficiency involve credentialing NPs for invasive procedures and clarifying the methods of how an NP will be credentialed to independently perform the procedure (Bahouth et al., 2013; Yeager S, 2010). Any NP orientation program should enhance the psychological development of NPs by building relationships through mentoring, collaboration, socialization, and networking, hence producing behavioral competence (Bahouth et al., 2013). According to Brown and Olshansky (1997), the organization should provide time beyond the graduate program in order to allow for optimal professional development.
Conclusion
The goals of healthcare reform are to provide affordable and quality health care while increasing access to care in the United States. Nurse practitioners are the largest advanced practice nurses whom are poised to assist with access to care gaps, improving quality and patient safety, coordinating complex care for widespread populations, and serving as primary providers. The accelerated utilization of hospital-based NPs combined with inadequate transition and orientation programs can hinder the mastery and competency of NPs. Improper transition into the organizational culture can result in role confusion, job dissatisfaction, stagnant professional growth, improper use of skills, and dysfunctional colleague collaboration. The implementation of a hospital-based NP orientation program will support the transition and professional development needs of NPs. NPs need to feel supported and empowered in their hospital roles to continue providing quality patient care while meeting the future needs of healthcare delivery.
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My Future Job as a Nurse Practitioner
My future job is a nurse practitioner. This occupation means that licensed nurses are clinicians who focus on the management of human health and disease prevention. I learned and known that my work will mainly focus on the health of children and adults. The nurse can study in one area. My dream is to be a nurse specializing in ultrasound in the hospital. In my opinion, the kind of responsibilities I need to have as a nurse is to love my job, to work in a team, to be agile in every situation.
Since childhood, I was interested in caring for the patient. When I was in high school, I was confused when I did not know what industry to do. Maybe, I used to be a good salesman or an engineer, but my family explained and told me to learn to be nurse. A nurse is a worthwhile job and is loved by everyone because it is a job that involves the lives of people. But, my family works as a doctor, pharmacist, or drug seller. That is also why I chose the nurse as my future job.
I think to be a good nurse I need to have special skills. They need to be confident, relaxed, calm under all pressure. In my opinion, having started work related to human life, we need to seriously and focus on patient health or time-sensitive health issues. In particular, be sure to think with confidence and speed under the pressure of patient family or our leaders. I feel that I am great at this job because I am a very disciplined person who always works in the right way and is good at scheduling. I am confident with all the skills I have learned at school as well as in training to become nurse. In education requirements, graduated high school and continue to study a Bachelor of Science about 4 years. Then continue to learn about the nursing program and practice in the hospital in 1.5 years to 4 years. Conditional able to study on a master’s degree to upgrade positions. I think the geographic area that has the greatest need for a career I've chosen is the famous clinic or major hospital in the city. I think the big hospital will be more trusted and will help the higher income. It may depend on your level of education. I feel my highest possible mobility is a visa issue. Because I am an international student, I cannot live in America without having to apply for a visa. I must return to my home country and renew every year to be able to revisit and continue my work. But I will probably finish my studies and return to my country and work in the hospital. I think nurses are a growing profession all over the world. This job is advantage to find because there are many nursing ailments, but the medical examination is rated as high level. They consider the entry high score and there are many high requirements for the trainees. I think this is a long-term employment because we can learn more to upgrade our qualifications and help increase the salary and level of work. Yes, I can find a job if I have a good transcript. I think it would not be impossible for me to be in my field because at the beginning I had to decide and learn a lot so that I could continue with my career. The clinic could hire me because I was nurse. My annual salary is $108,000. I think there will be geographic areas that will be considered for the needs of the people of that country who will pay the hospital fees and then adjust the salary for the nurse. I can live in Houston with the above salary, or I can go home and work but surely the salary will be much lower than in the US. The salary can be calculated on the level as well as the performance of yourself at work. Of course, because I am a saving person, so I can use my savings amount to buy a house or do other things.
I think if I'm not a nurse I will study accounting. I enjoyed math and computed very interesting numbers. If I could, I would also like to be able to do both jobs, so I can make more money. My wish is to save some money to send to my family as well as to help poor children. Currently, I am studying nursing, I will try to continue this path and help the future better.
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