End Of Life Decisions: End Of Life Care

Atul Gawande’s book, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” explores different themes such as, aging, death, and the mishandling of both aging and death by the medical profession’s. This book also addresses what it means to live well near the end of life. It is not just to survive, not just to be safe, not just to stay alive as long as the medical technology allows, but, according to the author it is about what living truly means to an individual. The author describes that the idea of “Being Mortal” developed as he watched his elderly father go through a steep decline in his health and the eventual death. He soon realized that during his medical education and training he was never taught how to help his patients with managing

When a patient is at the end of life it is very important to value the patients self dignity and their decisions at the mere end of their lives. The end of life care is to relieve the weight of the patient 's shoulders physically and mentally. I approve of end of life caring. Basic end of life care is summarized by improving the care of quality of life and dignity of the ill person. The important themes to good ethics of end of life care is a combination of human rights,respect,dignified care,and privacy.

According to Karaim in 2013 “Decisions about sustaining life, allowing it to end or even hastening death are among the most difficult choices terminally ill patients and their families can face” (para 1). Patients going through this have a bountiful number of things going

Advance directives help inform health care providers with the patient’s wishes on how they would like to be treated medically. Advance directives allow a patient to be in control of their treatment plan as well as end of life choices. Therefore, when the time comes, and the patient is no longer able to make these decisions, there is a legal document that has been put in place to carry out the patient’s wishes. Advance directives are critical documents that are often ignored because of the uncomfortableness the subject of end of life care brings up. Advance directives are most common in the geriatric population since people often associate advance directives primarily with end of life decisions.

Making readers depressed or necessarily agreeing with his decision is not the intention of his writing, rather, to examine their own life and situation and to contemplate death, as it is inevitable for everyone. The majority of people will more than likely be forced to face a similar choice as Clendinen. Maybe not in the same extreme measure, but the majority of people will need to render a decision for a family member who is no longer capable of making medical decisions for themselves. Clendinen's purpose is being achieved and readers should walk away from this article recognizing exactly what Clendinen’s beliefs are on death, and it ought to generate curiosity about their own thoughts and beliefs. At the very least, talk with their loved one’s before they ever become ill and find out their loved one’s wishes are.

There were several classes I attended that significantly impacted my views about death, dying, life, and living. However, for me I found it quite difficult to choose just one to highlight since they all seemed to make an impact on my thoughts and ideas in one-way or another. Nonetheless there were three classes that stood out a little bit more then the rest such as the Shifrin event, the class about bullying, and when the guest speaker came to discuss ethical issues during end of life care. From each of these classes I was able to take away some pertinent information about death, dying, life, and living. I found the lecture about ethical issues during end of life care very informative.

Do you feel that taking care of terminally ill or elderly patients has become a major ethical dilemma? Yes, totally it has become an ethical dilemma for both physicians and patient’s families. To begin, end-of-life care can be incredibly expensive and emotionally draining to both the patient and his/her family. Many families take on the “do everything mentality” says, Anthony to prolong the patient’s suffering instead of his or her meaningful life span.

The ethical principle of autonomy provides for respect for the patient’s autonomy to make decisions and choices concerning their life and death. Respecting the patient’s autonomy goes against the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. There also exists the issue of religious beliefs the patient, family, or the caretaker holds, with which the caretaker has to grapple. The caretaker thus faces issues of fidelity to patient welfare by not abandoning the patient or their family, compassionate provision of pain relief methods, and the moral precept to neither hasten death nor prolong life.

The purpose of the essay is to explore how nurses ensure caring and comfort for all patients and their families when transitioning to end of life care. Caring for the body as death approaches, lifespan considerations, cultural norms, legal and ethical framework for nurses, caring after a patient’s death, and the five stages of grief and loss, will all be explored throughout the duration of this paper, in relation to providing comfort and care, and the challenges and implications that present for nurses while caring for a dying patient. As nurses, caring for the body as death approaches is extremely important. If a patient is reaching end of life, they do not deserve less care, they deserve more. As death approaches, it is important to make sure every patient is as comfortable as they can be.

The term medical professionals use to describe the type of events surrounding death is called end of life care. A person is given a choice to receive care in a hospital setting or in the privacy of their own home using a service called hospice. This paper will explore the benefits and drawbacks of hospital vs. hospice for end-of-life care, the current resources that are available for patients and their families, and the reasons that people choose one over the other.

Atul Gawanda is an Author and a surgeon who tackles the toughest part of his profession on aging and dying. He argues that most Doctor’s lack the ability to provide hospice care for their terminally ill patient but instead use medication to comfort them. Doctors are only taught how to save lives but omit the vital part of giving hope to their fatal patient to make their last phase of life a meaningful one. We are often faced with situations, where when we are in our most vulnerable state of health and we go see a Doctor and all he cares about is diagnosing us and finding the right medication to cure us. But does not give us the autonomy to articulate what matters most in our life, to facilitate our healing process and make us feel better about

The book discusses the need for conversations about end-of-life care, and the importance of having those conversations early. Gawande emphasizes that it is essential to have a plan in place in order to ensure that our wishes are respected, and that our loved ones are taken care of in the way we have chosen. He offers practical advice on how to go about it, including exploring our options, talking to our doctors, and researching reputable care facilities. Gawande also stresses the importance of quality of life when making decisions about our care. He shows that there is more to life than prolonging it, and that quality of life should be a priority when making decisions about care options.

Lydia is a 45-year-old woman, who has been paralyzed for over six months due to a car accident. Since then, she can only communicate through nodding her head, and also has been on a ventilator for respiratory assistance and receiving tube feedings at Little Falls Hospital. Moreover, she was diagnosed and treated successfully for breast cancer before the accident. The medical staffs are uncertain as to whether she can understand what is going on to make any decisions about her life. An advance directive has been located however, a copy could not be found.

The moral issue within this journal is whether euthanasia, the killing of a patient suffering painfully and is doomed for death, is permissible if it is the only alternative option to horrible, excruciating pain. Terminal illness concerns the sanctity of life and the two sense of “life.” Arguments are given that say euthanasia is morally acceptable. For example, when a patient is terminally ill, that increases the amount of unhappiness in the world and to those surrounded by the patient. Therefore, killing the patient would increase the amount of happiness in the world, the key point of utility.

The Peaceful End of Life theory is paramount as the authors stated that every individual deserved to die in a peaceful manner with dignity. The theory is empirical based which is applicable to nursing practice in caring for dying patients, assessing interventions, maximizing care, promote dignity and enhancing end of life to be peaceful. According to Moore and Ruland, a good life is simply defined as getting what one wants (Alligood, 2014, p. 702). The approach of given patients what they want or their preference is a practical approach to the end of life care. This theory stands out to me because it fit into my patient’s diagnosis and I believe everyone deserves to die with dignity and peacefully.