An ethical dilemma arose in a situation where a retirement community was granted power of attorney over a sane, competent resident's funds in order to pay for in-home observation by certified nursing assistants when the resident's husband became terminally ill and she disclosed that she would kill herself on her husband's death (Curtin, 1995). The couple had been married for 40 years. It was the second marriage for both of them, and the wife had a grown child from her first marriage. They were financially well-off, and very close to one another. They were both 89 years of age, and the husband suffered a heart attack, followed by bypass surgery, which he barely survived, and there was doubt he would recover. The wife told one of the nurses in the assisted living complex where they owned an apartment that she would kill herself if her husband died. The nurse reported this to her superior.
The policy of the complex was that suicidal residents could not remain unless the resident's themselves paid for round-the-clock care (Curtin, 1995). The director of nursing contacted the resident's doctor, who arranged for a psychiatric consult. The psychiatrist found the resident to be completely sane, but that she intended to kill herself if her husband died, and recommended a suicide watch. The resident refused this service, saying she and her husband owned their apartment and she would decide if she needed help. The director went ahead and hired the nurses, but the resident refused to let them in, and refused to pay when the bill for their services arrived.
The facility contacted the resident's adult daughter, but mother and daughter never saw eye-to-eye, and the resident rejected any idea of her daughter gaining financial power of attorney over her affairs, so the institution went to court and was granted financial power of attorney itself over her and her husband's estate. The husband was left clinging tenuously to life, wh...