Would you? Could you?

Last week I wrote about euthanasia which got me thinking about another pretty loaded subject, the death penalty.
I read a book about healthcare professionals who work in the prison system and were a part of the team that took part in the executions.  These included the physicians that supervised the execution, wrote the orders for the medications and pronounced the inmate dead, as well as the nurses who administered the meds.  There were some that pro-death penalty, and some that were very much against it.  But they all felt that they should be a part of the event for the sake of the patient/inmate.

Now I am a supporter of the death penalty.  I have absolutely no problem with a person who committed a crime, found guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt and sentenced to death to receive the punishment they have earned.

That being said, could I be the one to inject the criminal and put them to death?  I don’t know.

But what I do know is, if I were the nurse that was in that position, I would put my feeling about the death penalty aside and treat it like I would with any other ordered treatment.  I would follow the orders, give the medications and treat the patient with dignity and respect.

That is what I hope I would do.  I honestly don’t know if I could.