Physician Assisted Suicide: The ethical debate

Recently in Vermont there has been quite the ethical debate over physician assisted suicide. That is, a practice in which the physician provides a patient with a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient's request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life. Well, in my opinion, I believe there is a better way to leave this earth when one is chronically ill. Currently, if someone is critically and chronically ill and the doctors don’t have much hope for them, they are put on a high dose of pain medications to keep them comfortable. From there, if it is the patient and family’s wish, they will be taken off any life support or respiratory measures that they were currently on, and then left for do not intubate and do not resuscitate if and when they coded. This may not end their life as fast and may keep them alive a couple more days, but it keeps them comfortable and out of pain so they can die without suffering. Yes, there are always exceptions when people do feel pain, but how can one expect their physician or nurse to walk into their room and give them one dose of medicine that will terminate their life? I know that I as a future nurse would never be comfortable ending a strangers life, even if they did want it. I would want to know my patient died on their own time and that they were comfortable at the same time. Being a nursing student, the main thing we are taught is to give doses that are not lethal or in the lethal range. To ever think about giving a lethal dose of medication to me is crazy and seems unnecessary. As health professionals, we are not taught how to terminate a lives, we are taught to save lives and make our patients comfortable.