I personally have had a connection with death with dignity. A few years ago, a family friend chose to use death with dignity to end her life in her fight against a deadly brain cancer. As years progressed with this illness, it became very hard for her to live her normal life, so she chose to die with dignity. This was the first time I had ever really heard about death with dignity and it challenged me to think of all perspectives. I personally think that death with dignity should be an option, so that the person struggling can decide when the illness has taken too much of them.

After watching all of the videos, specifically the one with Brittany Maynard, I felt that her opinion was similar to mine which was that she wanted to have control and she knew the illness was only going to get worse. To be able to have the option to use death with dignity allows those with the deadly illness to have power over how they die and how the disease affects them. Maynard was worried about loosing eye sight or ways to communicate, etc. Personally, these things that would eventually get taken from her, made me respect her chose to use death with dignity. Struggling with a deadly illness is one that no one wishes upon anyone, so having the option to die, how and when you want is a powerful choice. 

I do feel that at times, death with dignity can be hard to offer as a healthcare professional. We work so hard every day to provide safety and comfort, so when someone chooses to die, I feel that it could be hard to understand why. I think that as a healthcare professional, it is our duty to provide clients with every option that they have and respect the decision they choose to make. Making a connection with nonmaleficence, we could be harming the patient more if we choose not to provide a death with dignity option. Many times these illnesses take things away from a patient that I can’t even imagine. I feel that our duty to “do no harm” should be considered from many perspectives. I feel that the understanding of nonmaleficence changes for me when I consider different illnesses or patient care settings.