LET TER S EDITORIAL BOARD
Physician-assisted suicide: A matter of choice > I was dismayed to read all the negative feedback, including the famous phrase “I cancelled my subscription,” regarding “Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Nurse’s Perspective” (March, 2014).* No nurse has to participate if he or she has moral objections. No physician has to offer the advice and prescriptions if he or she objects. Physicians don’t advertise PAS, but patients do seek it. I treasure the miracle of life, but I’ve also seen enough patients in my 45 years in nursing to know there are certain diagnoses and diseases that I don’t want to experience if I have any choice in the matter. Most of our patients don’t fear death, but they do fear how long and how unpleasant the process may be for them and their loved ones. Yes, pain, dyspnea, nausea, constipation, and pressure ulcers can all be addressed, but I wouldn’t want an extended period of helplessness, dependency, and other declines that often accompany the dying process. I’d choose to shorten that process with medications, and I’ve discussed that with my daughters, two of whom are nurses as well. It’s not necessarily our place to suggest this option to patients with lifeending diseases, but it’s also not our place to tell them they’re wrong. It’s a personal decision. —SHERRILL DUNNING-RILEY, BSN, RN, CDE, CEN Santa Rosa, Calif.
Don’t stop yearly appointments > This is in response to “Screening Mammography: Study Calls For ‘Urgent’ Policy Reassessment” (Clinical Rounds, April, 2014).* This nurse is going to continue to recommend annual screening mammograms to friends, family, and patients. Why? Because I’m currently recovering from surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ with an invasive component, which was found on a screening mammogram. It was too small to be palpated and wasn’t detectable on
ultrasound. To me, it makes no sense to wait until a lesion is big enough to be palpated to begin treatment, which could potentially be more involved at that stage. I understand that for a large percentage of women, the annual mammogram is unnecessary, but when you’re one of the women who benefits from the yearly appointment, it does make a difference. I hope this study (and others like it) won’t lead insurance companies to refuse to pay for annual mammograms. —SUSAN MERRYFIELD, RN, CCRN Kutztown, Pa. ■
Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, ETN, FAAN, FAPWCA, President, Ayello, Harris & Associates, Inc.; Faculty, Excelsior College School of Nursing, Albany, N.Y.; Senior Adviser, The John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and Program Director, Education Essentials, New York, N.Y. Michael R. Cohen, ScD, MS, RPh, President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Member of the Sentinel Event Advisory Group for The Joint Commission, Horsham, Pa. Yvonne D’Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS, Pain Management and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, Suburban Hospital-Johns Hopkins Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Michael W. Day, MSN, RN, CCRN, Trauma Nurse-Coordinator, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Spokane, Wash. Cheryl Dumont, PhD, RN, CRNI, Director, Nursing Research and Vascular Access Team, Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, Va. Martha M. Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, Codirector of the Behavioral, Clinical and Health Systems Intervention Research Core, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center; Research Investigator in the Department of Medical Education; and Adjunct Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peg Gray-Vickrey, DNS, RN, Provost and VP for Academic and Student Affairs, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Kileen, Texas. Elizabeth Heavey, PhD, RN, CNM, RN-BSN Program Director, Associate Professor of Nursing, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, N.Y. Jeanne Held-Warmkessel, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Frank Edward Myers III, MA, CIC, Infection Preventionist III, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego, Calif. Bill Pruitt, MBA, RRT, AE-C, CPFT, FAARC, Senior Instructor and Director of Clinical Education, Cardiorespiratory Sciences, School of Allied Health, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala. Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, FAAN, Vice President of Informatics Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago, Ill. Susan Simmons, PhD, RN, ARNP-BC, Family NP, College Park Family Care Center, Overland Park, Kan. R. Bryan Simon, RN, CNOR, FAWM, DiMM, Partner, Vertical Medicine Resources; Director, Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team; Contract RN, Perioperative Services, AMN Healthcare; Fayetteville, W.V. Kristopher T. Starr, JD, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, Attorney at Law, Ferry, Joseph & Pearce, P.A., Wilmington, Del.; Nurse Manager, Wilmington, Emergency Department, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Del.; Adjunct Nursing Faculty, Excelsior College, Albany, N.Y.; Supplemental Nursing Faculty, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. Jeff Strickler, MA, RN, CEN, CFRN, NE-BC, Director, Emergency Services, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C.
* Individual subscribers can access articles free online at http://www.nursing2014.com. Send comments by e-mail if possible to [email protected]. Please, no attachments. Or send them to Letters Editor, Nursing2014, Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Please include your name, credentials, complete mailing address, e-mail address (if applicable), and daytime phone number. Letters are edited for content, length, and grammar. Submission of a letter will constitute the author’s permission to publish it, although it doesn’t guarantee publication. Letters become the property of Nursing journal and may be published in all media. DOI-10.1097/01.NURSE.0000453013.04310.2d
N0914
8 l Nursing2014 l September
www.Nursing2014.com
Copyright © 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Physician-assisted suicide: A matter of choice > I was dismayed to read all the negative feedback, including the famous phrase “I cancelled my subscription,” regarding “Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Nurse’s Perspective” (March, 2014).* No nurse has to participate if he or she has moral objections. No physician has to offer the advice and prescriptions if he or she objects. Physicians don’t advertise PAS, but patients do seek it. I treasure the miracle of life, but I’ve also seen enough patients in my 45 years in nursing to know there are certain diagnoses and diseases that I don’t want to experience if I have any choice in the matter. Most of our patients don’t fear death, but they do fear how long and how unpleasant the process may be for them and their loved ones. Yes, pain, dyspnea, nausea, constipation, and pressure ulcers can all be addressed, but I wouldn’t want an extended period of helplessness, dependency, and other declines that often accompany the dying process. I’d choose to shorten that process with medications, and I’ve discussed that with my daughters, two of whom are nurses as well. It’s not necessarily our place to suggest this option to patients with lifeending diseases, but it’s also not our place to tell them they’re wrong. It’s a personal decision. —SHERRILL DUNNING-RILEY, BSN, RN, CDE, CEN Santa Rosa, Calif.
Don’t stop yearly appointments > This is in response to “Screening Mammography: Study Calls For ‘Urgent’ Policy Reassessment” (Clinical Rounds, April, 2014).* This nurse is going to continue to recommend annual screening mammograms to friends, family, and patients. Why? Because I’m currently recovering from surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ with an invasive component, which was found on a screening mammogram. It was too small to be palpated and wasn’t detectable on
ultrasound. To me, it makes no sense to wait until a lesion is big enough to be palpated to begin treatment, which could potentially be more involved at that stage. I understand that for a large percentage of women, the annual mammogram is unnecessary, but when you’re one of the women who benefits from the yearly appointment, it does make a difference. I hope this study (and others like it) won’t lead insurance companies to refuse to pay for annual mammograms. —SUSAN MERRYFIELD, RN, CCRN Kutztown, Pa. ■
Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, ETN, FAAN, FAPWCA, President, Ayello, Harris & Associates, Inc.; Faculty, Excelsior College School of Nursing, Albany, N.Y.; Senior Adviser, The John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and Program Director, Education Essentials, New York, N.Y. Michael R. Cohen, ScD, MS, RPh, President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Member of the Sentinel Event Advisory Group for The Joint Commission, Horsham, Pa. Yvonne D’Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS, Pain Management and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, Suburban Hospital-Johns Hopkins Medicine, Bethesda, Md. Michael W. Day, MSN, RN, CCRN, Trauma Nurse-Coordinator, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Spokane, Wash. Cheryl Dumont, PhD, RN, CRNI, Director, Nursing Research and Vascular Access Team, Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, Va. Martha M. Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, Codirector of the Behavioral, Clinical and Health Systems Intervention Research Core, Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center; Research Investigator in the Department of Medical Education; and Adjunct Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peg Gray-Vickrey, DNS, RN, Provost and VP for Academic and Student Affairs, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Kileen, Texas. Elizabeth Heavey, PhD, RN, CNM, RN-BSN Program Director, Associate Professor of Nursing, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, N.Y. Jeanne Held-Warmkessel, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Frank Edward Myers III, MA, CIC, Infection Preventionist III, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego, Calif. Bill Pruitt, MBA, RRT, AE-C, CPFT, FAARC, Senior Instructor and Director of Clinical Education, Cardiorespiratory Sciences, School of Allied Health, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala. Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, FAAN, Vice President of Informatics Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago, Ill. Susan Simmons, PhD, RN, ARNP-BC, Family NP, College Park Family Care Center, Overland Park, Kan. R. Bryan Simon, RN, CNOR, FAWM, DiMM, Partner, Vertical Medicine Resources; Director, Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team; Contract RN, Perioperative Services, AMN Healthcare; Fayetteville, W.V. Kristopher T. Starr, JD, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, Attorney at Law, Ferry, Joseph & Pearce, P.A., Wilmington, Del.; Nurse Manager, Wilmington, Emergency Department, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Del.; Adjunct Nursing Faculty, Excelsior College, Albany, N.Y.; Supplemental Nursing Faculty, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. Jeff Strickler, MA, RN, CEN, CFRN, NE-BC, Director, Emergency Services, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C.
* Individual subscribers can access articles free online at http://www.nursing2014.com. Send comments by e-mail if possible to [email protected]. Please, no attachments. Or send them to Letters Editor, Nursing2014, Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Please include your name, credentials, complete mailing address, e-mail address (if applicable), and daytime phone number. Letters are edited for content, length, and grammar. Submission of a letter will constitute the author’s permission to publish it, although it doesn’t guarantee publication. Letters become the property of Nursing journal and may be published in all media. DOI-10.1097/01.NURSE.0000453013.04310.2d
N0914
8 l Nursing2014 l September
www.Nursing2014.com
Copyright © 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
