TimesArgus.com - We Are Vermont

There is no 'assisted suicide legislation' being proposed. There is a death with dignity bill under consideration. The majority of Vermonters support this bill. As for 'out-of-state forces and funding' the majority of that is actually aimed at stopping the passage of this bill. Please cite your sources that show otherwise, Ms Grange.

As a hospital nurse since 1989, I witnessed many (quiet) dignified deaths. Patients or family refused treatments knowing death would result, morphine drips were increased knowing breathing would be compromised, etc.

I also witnessed many pain filled deaths. Examples:
-A 100 year old in a coma with erratic heart beats and kidney shutdown for 1 week, who was subjected to CPR & ACLS at death. Most of this patient's ribs broke during the CPR, life did not return. My hope is that this patient was beyond feeling what was being done.
-A 90 year old patient would stop eating, they would start IVs, pt would eat, IV was stopped, patient would stop eating, IV was restarted, and on and on for almost 3 weeks. Family finally asked questions, then requested MDs to cancel all IV orders and instructed that patient not be forced to eat. Patient then had a peaceful week and died, as were this patient's wishes through all of this medical care.
-Another 90 patient who came in with a Do Not Resuscitate order, after a week in a coma, his estranged child, now an adult who hadn't visited or spoken to him in almost 40 years, arrived and demanded full resuscitation efforts. Sure enough, one day this patient's heart stopped, was restarted, pt was moved to intensive care, several more resuscitations were performed through out the day, with this patient finally dying ~12 hours after the 1st heart restart. Did this patient suffer? I think probably. Did other patients suffer? Definitely! They did not receive pain medications, treatments, not even their meals, etc on time during those 12 hours - not on the medical surgical unit or in the intensive care unit.

My heart stopped after major surgery ~30 years ago. I can still recall the pain that accompanied being 'shocked' back to life. I am glad they did it back then as I was quite young with young children. Now that I am almost a senior citizen, I do not want it done if anything happens to me. I have felt this way for over 30 years, so my mind is made up. I am glad that all patients now have the right to declare their wishes for various medical events, however, we now need to pass legislation that allows medical professionals to honor those wishes.

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