The Entire Life: Nursing's Obligation to Bring Truth to the Death Penalty Debate

The author explores the costs and impact of capital punishment on society's ability to address social ills that precede criminal behavior–lack of access to health care, child abuse, domestic violence, drug addictions, and poverty. Two case studies are used to demonstrate that the death penalty is applied arbitrarily against the disadvantaged, the mentally ill, and the retarded. The author asserts that nurses must not support killing people, and challenges nurses to find ways to address community health issues to provide alternatives to capital punishment.