Pediatric Patient Assimilation

1281 Words6 Pages
Limitation and Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining

Medical Treatment in Pediatric Patients

Alcorn State University

Ethical issues are faced quite often in pediatric intensive care units (PICU). Perhaps, the most frequently faced ethical issue in PICUs is the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT). This issue raises anxiety and uncertainty levels of physicians, nurses, other healthcare team members, families, and sometimes, the patients themselves. Making the decision to withhold or withdraw LSMT requires a multidisciplinary approach in which the entire healthcare team, family, and the patient, when able, must consider ethical issues surrounding the decision. The purpose of this paper is to explore some
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There truly are times when it is best for a treatment to be either withheld or withdrawn to keep a child from going through needless suffering. It is strongly agreed that if treatment causes more harm than help, then, that treatment should be discontinued or never started. The child’s best interest should always be of priority. Nurses and physicians must consider the concepts of futility, disproportionate burden, assent, and best interest when helping parents make, possibly, one of the hardest decisions of their lives. They must work together to help parents understand the benefits of withholding or withdrawing and that they won’t be hastening their child’s death, but only making them a little more comfortable.

References

Devictor, D., Latour, J., & Tissieres, P. (2008). Forgoing life-sustaining or death-prolonging therapy in the pediatric icu. Pediatric Clinics of North America (55), 791-804. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2008.02.008.

Jacobs, H. (2005). Ethics in pediatric end-of-life care: a nursing perspective. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 20(5), 360-369. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2005.04.016.

Vose, L., & Nelson, R. (1999). Ethical issues surrounding limitation and withdrawal of support in the pediatric intensive care unit. Journal of Intensive Care Medicine 14(5), 220-230. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1489.1999.00220.x.

Withholding and withdrawing of life support in children (2005). Clinical Practice Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.acadmed.org.my
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