Analysis of End-of-Life Bioethical Issues in Healthcare

This essay examines the complex bioethical issues that arise at the end of life, focusing on the ethical dilemmas faced by healthcare professionals and patients' families. It explores various aspects including patient care options, the role of legal and ethical guidelines, and the impact of technology. The paper delves into critical decisions such as end-of-life care, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia, considering the perspectives of patients, families, and medical practitioners. It also addresses topics like advanced directives, cultural beliefs surrounding death, and the economic and emotional burdens associated with prolonged medical care. The essay concludes by highlighting the varied viewpoints on assisted death and the ongoing debate surrounding the cost and benefits of allowing or prohibiting such practices, emphasizing the need for compassionate and socially responsible approaches in end-of-life care.

Running head: END OF LIFE BIOETHICAL ISSUES. 1
End of Life Bioethical Issues.
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation

END OF LIFE BIOETHICAL ISSUES. 2
Patientcare options are on arise as a result of the improving knowledge and technology in
healthcare systems. This options are more complicated ethical choices to arrive at when it comes
to making decisions concerning the diagnosis and care of dying patients. Many have to make the
decision on best diagnostic alternative for a patient at the expense of not hurting them.
Sometimes these option put healthcare professionals on a dilemma, like when one is corned to
make a choice on how to end patient life or prefer treatment in intensive care units. Decision on
whether to give care to their own patients on a death bed or their loved ones-confront people
from all walks of life.
Coming face with death is a bad experience, which a lot of people have to deal with by
making simple or complex decisions. These decisions can be guided by legal-laws, ethics,
morals, bioethics, religion or medical advice. For example, someone who may be dying might
have to make a choice of having care at home or they may rather have medical treatment in a
facility. Also some may have to make a decision on who or what type of family members they
want involved in their treatment plan and decision making. Some other examples of decisions
they made be face with are; wills, advanced directives, and power of attorney. Many might want
to make a decision on how they want to spend their dying day; like reflecting the meaning of life.
Some might be religious and want to participate in spiritual ritual or confessing of sins like for a
Christian set up due to one believing it’s a curse instead (Watson-Jones et al., 2016). In certain
cultural beliefs, death is considered sacred, therefore planning or mentioning death is
unacceptable, heartless and even treacherous, as this could attract death
Many people die in hospitals and long term facilities; hospice. Therefore, their close
relatives or families are the ones legitimate in making decisions for either themselves, a family
member, or loved ones. Almost 65%-75% of patients who are very critically sick are not able to

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speak for themselves when it comes time to make the decision to either limit treatment or not
(Gill et al., 2016). Some people find it worse having to suffer then having to face death. For
loved ones watching someone you love can be unbearable. The suffering can be so immense that
the option of physician assisted suicide or euthanasia could be the only alternative. This a
process which involves a third party person, normally an approved medical assistant (physician),
ends the life of an individual-either passively or actively. This is currently applied to put an end
the pain or suffering of the killed individual (Quill et al., 2016).
What people don’t realize that sometime keeping people alive without hope of recovery
may be causing their loved ones more stress and grief, and also if they were to survive it might
not be a state that the patient would have chosen to live, and their medical care might be too
much for families to handle. Therefore this act relives them economic and agony burden.
Euthanasia is also questionable for a number of reasons for example it breaches a doctors oath
not to harm (Köhler et al., 2017).
In conclusion assisted death presents varied philosophies and experiences. Some may
support assisted suicide, believing that this is the right thing to do when it comes to our
compassionate and socially responsible citizens. Citizens who may be for assisted suicide or
against it agree that there are cost and benefits to permitting versus banning the practice.

END OF LIFE BIOETHICAL ISSUES. 4
References
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Potestio, M. L., Shklarov, S., Marlett, N., & Stelfox, H. T. (2016). Patient and Family
Member-Led Research in the Intensive Care Unit: A Novel Approach to Patient-
Centered Research. PLOS ONE, 11(8), e0160947.
Köhler, A., Collymore, C., Finger-Baier, K., Geisler, R., Kaufmann, L., Pounder, K. C.,
Schulte-Merker, S., Valentim, A., Varga, Z. M., Weiss, J., & Strähle, U. (2017).
Report of Workshop on Euthanasia for Zebrafish—A Matter of Welfare and Science.
Zebrafish, 14(6), 547-551.
Quill, T. E., Back, A. L., & Block, S. D. (2016). Responding to Patients Requesting
Physician-Assisted Death. JAMA, 315(3), 245.
Watson-Jones, R. E., Busch, J. T., Harris, P. L., & Legare, C. H. (2016). Does the Body
Survive Death? Cultural Variation in Beliefs About Life Everlasting. Cognitive
Science, 41, 455-476.