Go Back   Ultimate Nurse > Specialty Nurse Forums > Specialty Nursing Discussion Forum > Critical Care Nursing
Register

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-20-2005, 04:23 AM   #1 (permalink)
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Southeast America
Posts: 225
Beating a dead horse*

*There is absolutely no pun intended here.


Since the release of Terri Schievo's autopsy findings, AM-Talk Radio hosts have started to run with this non-story again. As a healthcare professional for many years, I was dumbfounded with the media attention to this case in the first place. It all seemed so clear cut. A young woman arrests. She is resuscitated and left in a vegetative state secondary to anoxic encepholopathy. The family maintained hope for meaningful recovery for many years until the husband, Michael, decides he wants to let go and get on with what is left of the rest of his life. The parents, who have made Terri their life, desperately want to maintain the status quo. If she should pass away they, as a couple, would have no life at all. The siblings don't want to deal with their parents grief so they want Terri kept on support. Everybody goes to court and the judge rules in favor of the husband. Case closed, right? Wrong.


I had a revalation one day. Woman in her 80's. Stroke, unresponsive, entubated, vent, infections. The alternatives were trach/peg/nursing home; or, remove support/hospice. She had a middle age son who had been living with her and was her only relative. We explained the options to him. He stood there in front of his mother and looked at her for about 3-4 minutes. Then he said "Boy, this is really going to change my life." That's when it hit me . . . it's all about the survivors. You can debate all you want but I will firmly maintain that when people say that they want everything done for a patient that has had everything done and is not responding to treatment; is only doing it for themselves. It's all about them. You know what . . . and that's alright with me. They are the ones that have to live with their decision, not me.


What really gets me, is despicable radio talk show hosts saying that it is wrong to let nature take its course and that the rights of a husband is subordinate to parents and siblings and whoever wants to put in their two cents. The denigration of a man that only wants closure and to allow his wife to finally rest in peace, is what is wrong with this picture. And what is so seriously wrong, is that once the elections were over and talk radio had nothing to talk about, that they would latch onto this sad and intensely personal event and use it only to maintain their ratings. It's one thing for family members to act this way but for strangers to do it is unconscionable.


O_S
Old_School is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 07-02-2005, 11:43 AM   #2 (permalink)
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2
Re: Beating a dead horse*

I personally believe your opinions are biased and non-supportive with actual evidence.

My aunt works (In Pinellas County) and says he is a complete psycho.. ALSO you have to keep in mind that Michael has another woman on the side (with two children) so that really does show the conflict of interests (along with the payments from insurances..)

It shouldn't kill you that talk show brought into so much light because it is legally unprecedented in the judicial courts.

MY TWO CENTS,
DustinD.
RN
DustinD is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Hopsital News - Reports: 4 Dead in Moscow Roof Collapse nursebot Nursing News 0 02-23-2006 02:59 AM
Hopsital News - Five crashes in 90 minutes leave one dead nursebot Nursing News 0 01-24-2006 03:59 AM
Nursing News - Four residents dead from respiratory illness outbreak at Toronto nursing home nursebot Nursing News 0 10-01-2005 11:00 PM
how dead is dead Judyd Nursing Jokes, Inspirations and Quotes 3 12-12-2003 04:17 AM



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214