Make Your Way 7, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD

Euthanasia – What do YOU think? bereavement: schmerzlicher Verlust Last November we asked you to complete our questionnaire on euthanasia. This week, “Nursing Times” assesses your responses. On life and death issues it is seldom possible to divorce head from heart. The professional and personal are apt to merge. And so it is with euthanasia. Your responses to our questionnaire reflected the difficulty we all have in answering the question: “Whose life is it anyway?” What we asked you to do was to assess the merits of 13 fictitious cases or propositions, and to decide whether or not euthanasia – passive or active –was appropriate. There was a huge response – over a thousand questionnaires were returned. Euthanasia literally means “good death”, but has come to mean a “hastened” or “assisted” death. Most respondents seemed to support the concept of euthanasia in certain cases, but generally drew the line at personal involvement in assisting in someone else’s death. Two of the scenarios involved babies with Down’s syndrome. In the first, the baby had severe handicaps and had been rejected by his parents. “He is discovered to have an intestinal blockage which requires surgery. Without this the baby will die.” The question was: “Should the operation be performed?” In the second example the choice was not between life or death, but what sort of death. “The clinical team is discussing the case of a Down’s syndrome baby with a digestive tract blockage. It is suggested that the baby should be allowed to die, although it is recognised that this is likely to be distressing for all concerned, including his parents, nurses and doctors.” We asked you whether you would be prepared to advocate that the team should adopt a more active approach to hasten death. Eighty per cent of you said you would. Only 13% said “no” to what would amount to “active” euthanasia. Read the following article on the topic of euthanasia. Then write a paragraph summing up what the article says. Make sure you mention: 7 passive and active euthanasia • lifeprolonging measures • one or two concrete examples for clarification • the main results of the survey carried out among nurses • Try ___________________ to a local support group. These groups are usually led by people who have gone through what you are experiencing and attended by people who are currently in a similar situation to yourself. It can be a good idea to ___________________ professional help from a psychologist, someone trained in how to deal with bereavement. One thing you might want to try is ___________________ a journal about how you feel. Writing can be a great catharsis for many people. Have you considered ___________________ a tree in a park or donating money to start a fund in your loved one’s memory? Such rituals can really help. You’d better ___________________ you get enough rest. It’s easy to forget about sleep when you’re grieving, but you need to make sure you keep your emotional batteries recharged. Don’t be afraid to ___________________ yourself to feel emotion. This is extremely important and really what grieving is all about. 93 5 Extensive unit 5: Life and death Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verl gs öbv