End-of-life decisions in Swedish ICUs. How do physicians from the admitting department reason?
Intensive Crit Care Nurs
; 19(4): 241-51, 2003 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12915113
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To study how physicians from the admitting department reason during the decision-making process to forego life-sustaining treatment of patients in intensive care units (ICUs).DESIGN:
Qualitative interview that applies a phenomenological approach.SETTING:
Two ICUs at one secondary and one tertiary referral hospital in Sweden.PARTICIPANTS:
Seventeen admitting-department physicians who have participated in decisions to forego life-sustaining treatment.RESULTS:
The decision-making process as it appeared from the physicians' experiences was complex, and different approaches to the process were observed. A pattern of five phases in the process emerged in the interviews. The physicians described the process principally as a medical one, with few ethical reflections. Decision-making was mostly done in collaboration with other physicians. Patients, family and nurses did not seem to play a significant role in the process.CONCLUSION:
This study describes how physicians reasoned when confronted with real patient situations in which decisions to forego life-sustaining treatment were mainly based on medical--not ethical--considerations.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Médicos
/
Privación de Tratamiento
/
Toma de Decisiones
Tipo de estudio:
Qualitative_research
Aspecto:
Ethics
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Intensive Crit Care Nurs
Asunto de la revista:
ENFERMAGEM
/
TERAPIA INTENSIVA
Año:
2003
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia