The Ethical and Legal Issues of Withdrawal of Treatemt or Life Sustaing Measures

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The Ethical and Legal Issues of withdrawal of treatment or life support Willie Hudson State College of Florida Ethical & Legal Issues in Health Care NUR 3826 Dr. Keri Hockett September 10, 2014 The Ethical and Legal Issues of withdrawal of treatment or life support As a critical care nurse in a very busy fast paced intensive care unit, I deal with life and death circumstances on a daily basis. The patients’ in our unit are very ill and have multiple comorbidities, in which subsequently the outcome is often death. Although, death is the conclusion of life, I strongly believe that nurses must advocate for their patients and families, to honor and respect patient’s advanced directives within their scope of practice. Approximately 20% of all deaths in the United States occur in an intensive care unit, with roughly 70% to 90% of these deaths following a decision to withdraw life support. The critical care nurse plays a vital role in the withdrawal of life support because they are present at the bedside more than any other team member of the health care team and are responsible for carrying out physician’s orders to withdraw artificial support (Kirchhoff & Kowalkowski, 2010). However, ethical and legal conflicts may occur, when there is not a mutual agreement between the physician and patient or (and) family members regarding withdrawal of life support. It is the nurse’s role and obligation to facilitate discussion among the patient and family members when conflicts evolve. Therefore, it is imperative that the nurses have moral courage and have ethical humility to resolve conflicts, to assist the patient or family members, to make informed end of life decisions when death appears evitable. Hypothetical patient scenario Mr. Brown is an 89 year old male patient who has been recently diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer with metastasis to the

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