Life Support vs. Dignity
A decision is complicated not just by the people affected by it, but also by the people making the decision. For health care professionals, decision making is usually complex because of their role in providing care to patients and their families. One of the most difficult decisions for these professionals is scenarios involving life support or death. In these situations, health care providers work with the patient and his/her family to decide whether to sustain a patient's life or ending it. When facing such decisions, the providers should identify risks, evaluate risks, assess interventions, and determine suitable measures to mitigate risks. Some of the important aspects to consider during this process include informed consent, vicarious liability, strict liability, and res ipsa loquitur.
Case Scenario
A family is notified by the physician that their grandfather has respiratory failure, hepatic failure, cardiac failure, and has no blood pressure. The physician has also notified the family that the grandfather is septic and that his current condition has been like this for a week and appears to be worsening. He has no likelihood of survival. The doctor requests that the family make a decision about sustaining the grandfather's life or ending it.
Analysis of the Scenario
Life support is a mechanism that is used to sustain a patient's life after the failure of at least one vital organ or system. On the contrary, physicians are sometimes faced with a duty to hasten a patient's death, especially when the patient has no chance of survival following the failure of at least one organ. However, doctors need to ensure that a patient dies with dignity when it's the most appropriate decision for the patient's condition. The decision on whether to subject a patient to life support or death is usually complex for doctors and the patient's family members because of its impact on their lives.
The above scenario is...
Grief or loss can cause change -- force evolution, if you will, into the human ability for personal growth and self-actualization. Certainly grief is a human emotion; as much a part of us (Kubler-Ross, 2009). Psychologically, grief is a response to loss -- conventionally emotional, but also having physical, cognitive, social, philosophical, and even behavioral dimensions. There are numerous theories about grief, some popularized, some scholarly, but all try to
Viewing -- the "viewing" is not exclusively a Catholic rite, but is more traditional with Catholic services. It is also called a reviewal or funeral visitation. This is the time in which friends and the family come to see the deceased after the body has been prepared by a funeral home. A viewing may take place at a funeral parlor, in a family home, or Church/Chapel prior to the actual
What the physician must take into account when approving the lethal medication is more than just the patient's state of mind and medical condition. The patient's family can and should be taken into consideration. Any patient whose family strongly and vocally opposes the physician-assisted suicide might have a more difficult time convincing a physician that the choice to euthanize is the right one. In addition to supporting the rights of
A recently enacted policy, however, enforces the use of a dogmatic and uncompromising ideological speech as a standard replacement of informed consent (Minkoff & Marshall, 2009). The policy requires a list of statements, considered "facts," which discuss risks, benefits and alternatives. These focus largely on risks, misinformation and implied government disapproval. The use of this script compels the physician to commit an ethical and professional wrong, deceive his patient with
Death With Dignity: A Right or Not? The issue of "euthanasia" is a matter of great controversy today. It is often difficult to judge who the "right" to die under the influence of euthanasia without the "power of attorney" should be afforded. Religiously, one cannot predict the "miracle" of God in daily life. For a patient to live through feeding-tube for the rest of his/her life in the hospital or nursing
Death and Dying 'My new body was weightless and extremely mobile, and I was fascinated by my new state of being. Although I had felt pain from the surgery only moments before, I now felt no discomfort at all. I was whole in every way -- perfect," (Eadie "Embraced" 30). In her groundbreaking book Embraced by the Light, Betty J. Eadie writes about her own near-death experience to help dispel the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now