Withdholding and Withdrawing Treatment
Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment
Darren Monaco
Darton State College
Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment
Withholding and withdrawing treatment is the forgoing of life-sustaining treatment that the patient does not desire, either because of a perceived disproportionate burden on the patient or family members or for other reasons (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 264). Withholding and withdrawing treatment is a major ethical dilemma for healthcare providers and family members alike. The majority of Americans do not have an advanced directive in place. An advanced directive is a written expression of a person’s wishes about medical care, especially care during a terminal or critical illness (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 255). Advanced directives can be self-written instructions or prepared by someone else as instructed by the patient. These will become instructions about their future healthcare for other to follow. Some of the issues that need to be addressed in these advanced directives include specific treatments to be refused or desired; the time the directive needs to take effect; specific hospitals and physicians to be used; what lawyer, if any, should be consulted; and any other consultations, such as family or a religious figure (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 255). These advanced directives will be utilized if the patient loses their decision-making capacity and has been rendered incompetent due to their symptoms. The problem arises when the patient does not have this advanced directive. When the patient can no longer make competent decisions, the family might experience difficulty in trying to determine a progressive right course of action. When a patient loses their autonomous decision-making capacity, the decision making falls to a surrogate. A surrogate decision marker is an individual, usually a family member, who acts on behalf of the patient to make decisions about the patient’s treatment options (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 257). Decisions about treatment
Darren Monaco
Darton State College
Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment
Withholding and withdrawing treatment is the forgoing of life-sustaining treatment that the patient does not desire, either because of a perceived disproportionate burden on the patient or family members or for other reasons (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 264). Withholding and withdrawing treatment is a major ethical dilemma for healthcare providers and family members alike. The majority of Americans do not have an advanced directive in place. An advanced directive is a written expression of a person’s wishes about medical care, especially care during a terminal or critical illness (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 255). Advanced directives can be self-written instructions or prepared by someone else as instructed by the patient. These will become instructions about their future healthcare for other to follow. Some of the issues that need to be addressed in these advanced directives include specific treatments to be refused or desired; the time the directive needs to take effect; specific hospitals and physicians to be used; what lawyer, if any, should be consulted; and any other consultations, such as family or a religious figure (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 255). These advanced directives will be utilized if the patient loses their decision-making capacity and has been rendered incompetent due to their symptoms. The problem arises when the patient does not have this advanced directive. When the patient can no longer make competent decisions, the family might experience difficulty in trying to determine a progressive right course of action. When a patient loses their autonomous decision-making capacity, the decision making falls to a surrogate. A surrogate decision marker is an individual, usually a family member, who acts on behalf of the patient to make decisions about the patient’s treatment options (Butts & Rich, 2013, p. 257). Decisions about treatment
References: Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2013). Nursing ethics: across the curriculum and into practice (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning Hunter, M. (n.d.). The terri schiavo information page. Retrieved from http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html Opinion 2.20 - withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org//ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion220.page The big sleep: karen ann quinlan. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1864940_1864939_1864909,00.html The case of nancy cruzan. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.che.org/members/ethics/docs/2146/The%20case%20of%20