Assignment 2: Summary Assignment At this point you have chosen three cases and s
ID: 122076 • Letter: A
Question
Assignment 2: Summary Assignment
At this point you have chosen three cases and summarized each to fulfill assignment requirements. You have also listed all ethical and legal considerations for each case. It is now time for you to choose one of the three cases to examine more closely. Research critiques of your case and issues on both sides of the argument that your case is making. Provide a summary of three critiques, including citations for each. Be sure to include an assessment of the validity of the arguments for or against your case in each critique.
I chose to do my case study on death and dying. What would be the best way to do this assignment?
Explanation / Answer
Death and Dying:
According to the many philosophers there are only two things, we cannot understand properly in our whole life that is death and God. Everyone can experience the death. Death and dying are an inevitable part of human life.
Understanding that people differ in how they think about death and dying, and respecting those differences, can promote a peaceful death. Death is the one great certainty in life. Some of us will die in ways out of our control, and most of us will be unaware of the moment of death itself.
The Dying Process:
Many dying people say they feel excluded from important conversations about what may happen to them as they begin to die.
Signs and Symptoms:
Physical changes: in older people, skin can become paper-thin and pale, with dark liver spots appearing on hands, feet and face.
Increased sleep: the person begins to sleep for long periods.
Appetite reduces: those who are dying often lose their desire to eat or drink. They can begin to lose weight, sometimes rapidly.
Changes of expression: the person may start to talk about leaving, flying, going home, being taken home, being collected, going on holiday or making some kind of journey.
Special requests: the dying person may want something special such as to visit a particular place, or to be surrounded by their favourite flowers.
Pre-active Phase:
Loss of interest in daily activities
Increased inability to heal from bruises, infections or wounds
Person withdraws from social activities and spends more time alone
Increased anxiety, discomfort, confusion, agitation, nervousness
Increased inactivity, lethargy or sleep
Person requests to speak with a religious leader or shows increased interest in praying or repentance
Active Phase:
Increasingly unresponsive or cannot speak
Does not move for longs periods of time
The extremities hands, feet, arms and legs feel very cold to touch.
Person states that he or she is going to die soon
Has difficulty swallowing liquids or resists food and drink
Change in personality
Treatments:
As a family member or friend of a dying individual, you may aim to do the following:
Welcome visitors and children, or ask the person who he or she would like to see and invite those people
Prepare a list of people to call near the time of death
Talk with a friend about your feelings
Feel free to say good-bye at the place of death
More specific guidelines for the dying individuals include:
Be grateful and accept help
Don't be afraid to ask to be alone, time to be by yourself is necessary
Slow down, and ask your family and friends to slow down. There may not be a lot of time, but there is sufficient time, except in the most extreme cases, to think, plan and prepare
Ask your health care provider to explain what is being done to you so that you can understand why things are being done and what benefits you can expect.
Pre-planning will give your loved ones both assurances that your wishes are being followed and peace of mind from the knowledge that decisions has already been made.
Read the Do Not Resuscitate policies of your hospital. Under the U.S. Patient Self-Determination Act, every U.S. state must have a mechanism for allowing people to express their wishes for their death and dying, and healthcare providers are obligated to follow their patient's instructions.
Use resources that are available from the health care community. These include social services and psychological, financial and religious counselling, as well as hospital financial counselling.
Research on Death and Dying
Kubler-Ross Model.
Additional Theoretical Models (Charles A Corr Debbie Messer Zlatin and William McDougall).
References
van der Kloot Meijburg, H. H. (2005). The significance of dying well. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 13(1), 49-62.
Kramer, K. (2005). You cannot die alone: Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (July 8, 1926–August 24, 2004). OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 50(2), 83-101.