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According to the laws and regulations surrounding the field of nursing, yes, I do think that Ms. Robacynski technically killed Mr. Gessner, but I do not think her actions constitute active killing. To begin, and what is the most important aspect of this case is the fact that Mr. Gessner did not ask to be disconnected from his respirator, and moreover, he did not sign or verbally ask that treatment be refused should he become in a state of unresponsive comatose. I have few doubts that Ms. Robaynski was not intending to act in the best interest of her patient, but her uncertainty as to why she chose to remove the respirator from Mr. Gessner shows that she definitely acted too hastily and without full confidence that what she was doing was in the best interest of the patient. Medical negligence seems more in lieu with Ms. Robaynski’s actions, especially since she referenced this case to a GORK case. However, if that is her true ideology, then she should not have refused to continue treating Mr. Gessner with the respirator since GORK whether or not he would have kept living while on support. The patient did not asked to be killed, so therefore, Ms. Robaynski should have taken whatever measures possible to keep him alive until a unanimous and responsible decision was made (McCormick, 2009).
However, according to the evidence surrounding the case, it sounds as though Mr. Gessner would have definitely died considering the severity of his medical complications and his continuous comatose state. Overall, the most concerning information is the lack of competence in Ms. Robaynski’s explanation of her actions. Nurses and physicians need to be more than confident the decisions they are making are solely in the best interest of their patients. Although the chances of recovery for Mr. Gessner were extremely slim, as a nurse, I would feel more complacent knowing that I continued doing every single thing that I could do to keep a patient alive that had not previously agreed that his life be terminated.
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References
McCormick, A. J. (2009). Self-Determination, the Right to Die, and Culture: A Literature
Review. Social Work, 56(2). 119-128. doi: 10.1093/sw/56.2.119.
