Physician Assisted Euthanasia

I have been working as a c.n.a for a large nursing facility for more than a month now and I would be utterly lying to myself if that thought did not cross my mind. I have had firsthand experience caring for (or have had cared for) residents that were quite literally deteriorating before my eyes despite the very best efforts of myself and the rest of the facility's staff. And then there is a similar yet also quite different situation I have with a resident that I currently care for where for despite being relatively healthy he is completely bed bound with little more than the smallest of brainwave ability needed to be biologically alive. And even in that case he is dependent on feeding and breathing tubes. Occasionally I see his wife read to him and often wonder; would I want to be kept alive for decades after I am ,to put it quite frankly, nothing more than an empty shell; would anyone?

Observing death in the case of terminally ill residents is messy and humiliating. Which stirs the question if physician assisted suicide should be a legitimate option. In my mind my ideal death as is a old woman on her deathbed surrounded by my children and grandchildren in a room perfumed heavily with the smell of flower bouquets. With my final moments hearing their last goodbyes and feeling the warm touch of their hands until all is left are the faintest of mumbles and the gap of conciseness widens to the point of no return as death finally lulls me to the deepest of all sleeps. I feel this is a more humane way to die than clinging on to the edge like an animal.

However, I do understand that there is a downside if physician assisted euthanasia is ever legalized. For one it would complicate a doctor's Hippocratic oath, there would be cases of unnecessary suicides and other dangerous situations, hope might be abandoned too soon, and there are religious issues to address for some people. And I bet there would be at least one scandal involving an insurance agency. Yet regardless in the end of it being illegal or legalized sometime in the future I currently can only speak for myself and if I encounter a patient again in that in situation I will make sure to give my best efforts to make their final days filled with as much comfort as possible.