Ethics roundtable debate: Patients and surrogates want 'everything done' – what does 'everything' mean?

Critical Care - 2006
Christopher Doig1, Holt Murray2, Rinaldo Bellomo3, Michael Kuiper4, Rubens Costa5, Elie Azoulay6, David Crippen7
1Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
3Department of Intensive Care, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
4Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Medical Center Leeuwarden, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
5Critical Care Department, Hospital Pró Cardíaco, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6Service de Réanimation Médicale, Hôpital Saint-Louis et Université Paris 7, Paris, France
7Neurovascular ICU, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, USA

Tóm tắt

Highly complex and specialized care plans sometimes overwhelm the comprehension of patients and families. Many optimistic surrogates of critically ill patients err on the side of desiring that everything be done but with a nebulous idea of what 'everything' entails. Physicians must work closely to educate surrogates as to the benefits versus the risks of treatment. Our roundtable experts ponder the question of whether providers possess the authority to interpret unilaterally the nature of requests for everything.

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Tài liệu tham khảo

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