Week 3 Blog HUMN330- Changes to End of Life Killed in House

Changes to End-of-Life, Killed in House

           The personal advance health directives are the instructions letting others know the type of care you want if you become seriously ill or dying. These include a living will and health care power of attorney. The living will, records your end of life care wishes in case you can no longer speak for yourself. The power of attorney gives others, who you have identified (family member, friend, or physician) to make the decision for you. If you don’t name someone, the state you live in probably has an order of priority based on family relationships to determine who decides for you.
           End of life arrangements and discussions are often times avoided. According to a recent survey, only 23 percent of people execute advance health care directives because the process is cumbersome, ("Your Health," n.d.). Every responsible adult has to plan for their end of life care decisions. It will be hard to face the idea of your own death, but we have to take time to consider how our individual values relate to our idea of a good death. By deciding what end-of-life care best suits your needs when you are healthy, you can help those close to you make the right choices when the time comes. This not only respects your values, but also allows those closest to you the comfort of feeling as though they can be helpful.

The Official House members in Raleigh, N.C. disapproved an attempt to change the rules on written health care directives to make medical and other decisions for patients who are terminally ill, comatose or otherwise near death.

The State Law requires signatures by a notary and two witnesses, House Bill 146 would have made that an either or proposition instead of requiring both.

According to Rep. Jonathan Jordan, R-Ashe and others believed patients need the security of having both a notary to verify their identity and two witnesses to attest the patient is mentally competent to sign such a document (“Changes," 2015).

"This is about the convenience of health care providers, not the protection of folks," Jordan said.

In chapter three we were introduced to Ethical Relativism, our moral differences and the idea of what constitutes decent behavior. We have read that some cultures believe it is a sin to seek medical assistance that life should be left in the hands of God.

For those member that are close to us and have not made these arrangements, we need to introduce the subject to them to help care for them and know what they want when the time comes. Encourage them to share their thoughts, there is no right or wrong plan, it is about what they want. Decision has to be made early on type of care they wish to receive, if they have decided on their own path they wish to take, our moral obligation now is to respect the decision they made.

References:

Changes to End-of-Life Regulations Killed in House: WRAL.com. (2015, April 1). Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.wral.com/changes-to-end-of-life-regulations-killed-in-house/14554505/

Cancer patients 'prefer to die at home than extend life', news, Health News, AsiaOne YourHealth. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/cancer-patients-prefer-die-home-extend-life

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The moral of the story: An Introduction to Ethics (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill