In fact, hospitals and nursing homes have the option of advising their patients of their right to either accept or refuse medical treatment and their right to formulate advance directives regarding their care should they become incompetent based internally generated mandates. Conclusion

After lengthy debates in 1965, the United States Congress finally passed legislation that established the Medicare program as title XVIII of the Social Security Act. However, based on the fact that our population is aging and that there are growing trends of the population having high levels of uninsured and underinsured individuals, the healthcare system will continue to be hit hard in the future. One way to combat the potential problems of the future is to create more universal do-not-resuscitate and "Right to Die" policies, procedures and laws.

From a nursing perspective, one should be in favor of the concept of patient rights especially when do-not-resuscitate and "Right to Die" orders are instituted, valid and justified. Consider the future burden on our healthcare system. "As enacted, Medicare included not only Hospital Insurance (HI) benefits for the aged (Part A), but also Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) benefits for the aged (Par B). The HI...

Allowing patients to pass on peacefully rather than using technology to create an almost artificial life is actually more humane in many instances.
References

Birenbaum, Arnold. (1997). Managed Care: Made in America. Westport: Praeger.

Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. April 2005. Retrieved on August 7, 2005, at http://www.jcaho.org.

Joshua-Amadi, Mabel. (2003) "Recommendations: A Study In Motivation: Recruitment And Retention In The NHS; In The December Issue Of Nursing Management, Mabel Joshua-Amadi Examined What Is Sometimes Needed To Keep Staff In The NHS" Nursing Management (Harrow): February.

Social Security Administration. (1993) "Social security programs in the United States." Social Security Bulletin:12/22/1993.

DNR