Living Will Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Living Will - Essay Example Life preserving technologies have shifted the dynamics of the perceived role of health professionals as they are now increasingly being viewed as persons most suited to care for the patients sustaining prolonged diseases. Those patients who suffer from diseases which virtually force them to live terminally ill lives may require assistance in the form of help to end their lives to end the suffering and pain inflicted on them through different diseases. In such cases patients may be willing to end their lives mostly with the help of their physicians. (Sunstein, 1997). The case of Terri Schiavo is one such example which raised a lot of ethical as well as professional questions regarding the supposed role of health professionals in providing assistance to end their lives. The above mentioned situation have also gave rise to the discussion of whether the patients, who are lucid as well as competent, to decide whether to accept or decline life sustaining treatments. These discussions has also lead to the culmination of Patient Self Determination Act during 1990 which made mandatory for hospitals and nursing homes to inform their patients, in advance, regarding the type of treatment they may receive and if patients are unaware of such things, they must be informed regarding the advance directives.(Bernal,2008) This legislation also gave rise to the concept of living will which allowed patients of lucid and competent mind to decide upon the type of life prolonging treatments to be administrated to them thus ethically upholding the patient autonomy. (Valente, 2004). As discussed above that patients with terminal illness often seek the help of their physicians to end their lives gives rise to another dimension to the whole argument that whether other health professionals especially nurses should also have a role in assisting patients to write their living will in order to decide upon choosing the life prolonging treatments. Authorization to Nurses The argument of whether to allow nurses to assist patients in writing their will to accept or reject certain life prolonging treatments need to be viewed in multiple perspectives of ethical, legal as well as professional standards. It is often argued that ending one' life either through a living will or otherwise gives rise to the question of the moral beliefs held by the society (McMahan, 1993). This question alone put a certain ethical restrictions on the more responsible institutions not to be a part of something which has strong moral as well as ethical consequences. Though, living will may be a legal document which spells out "the types of medical treatments and life-sustaining measures you do and don't want" (Mayo , 2007) however, it does not necessarily means that hospitals and other health service providers deliberately attempt to assist patients to write their will to live let alone allowing nurses to be part of that. Though the assistance of nurses may be of technical nature however, given the low level of

Putting Action in Your Passion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Putting Action in Your Passion - Essay Example That is math. Math can also help us shop wisely like when we go to a grocery store attempting to budget our money to buy the right amount of stocks at the cheapest possible price. That is math. It comes in handy in computing what time we need to leave the house for work to avoid the hectic traffic jam and still manage to drop the kids in school. That is math. Like one writer said, "If we are well-versed in this language of numbers, it can help us make important decisions and perform everyday tasks."1 The "major disciplines within mathematics first arose out of the need to do calculations in commerce, to understand the relationships between numbers, to measure land, and to predict astronomical events."2 As part of the educational requirement, it is a fundamental study of all possible degrees. It has been included in all stages of learning including the time one is taught how to count one to ten. No one can go up the didactic ladder without passing Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus. It is even made a major for courses such as Accountancy, Bachelor of Science Major in Math, Engineering, and all other related studies. With this being said, Mathematics is "the academic discipline, and its supporting body of knowledge, that involves the study of such concepts as quantity, structure, space and change."3 Looking at the usual profile of students in a Math class, most fall under the just-barely-making-it-to-pass benchmark. A few seems to show advancement in the subject, and hardly any turns out to be a genius. This is the common set-up that takes place, and everyday is a challenging day to keep the class alert the whole time. Like one would say, "just the sight of a complicated math equation, laden with exponents and square root signs and algebraic letters, inspires the same sort of revulsion as an antennae-waving critter scurrying along a baseboard."4 To create variety in learning, educators incorporate math games, quizzes, board exercises, group activities, and other similar events but the goal to perk up the attentiveness is still far from achieved. No matter what the experience, students go out of the classroom with the usual blank stares which say that the lesson is long forgotten. Discovering one's interest is an easy task. I'd say unearthing your desires is an easy task. What motivates you What makes you spend more time into doing something To an onlooker, observe the things that one excels in. It may be through actions or manifestations, or a simple spark in the eyes that would give away an idea of what it is, like looking at a child beaming with glee when he sees kites flying overhead. Oftentimes, this starts with having a hobby. Hobbies are leisure activities practiced with "interest and enjoyment."5 While some of these activities seem insignificant and unimportant to most people, for others they have found something "compelling and entertaining about them,"6 which, when mastered and perfected, might later on be a profession and a good