ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACING NURSES ON END-OF-LIFE ISSUES BASED ON CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS HELD IN ELDORET, KENYA

ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACING NURSES ON END-OF-LIFE ISSUES BASED ON CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS HELD IN ELDORET, KENYA

1. Would it be wrong to shorten life intentionally or to prolong it unnecessarily when it is in the best interest of the patient to die?

2. A patient’s choice to refuse treatment for any reason other than suicidal must always be respected. But how do we get the consent of a patient in coma, is it by advance directives (living wills), legal surrogates/proxy, or close relatives?

3. Should we continue insisting that he or she should receive all the necessary care until eventual natural death?

4. Is it like ‘…assuming that all will be well with the unwell?’

5. Should treatment continue at the risk of the patient surviving in a severely impaired state?

6. Should the patient be allowed to die, with the risk that perhaps if treatment had continued they may have recovered?

7. Should we disregard advance directives to withdraw treatment where there is a chance that the patient will recover competence?

ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACING NURSES ON END-OF-LIFE ISSUES BASED ON CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS HELD IN ELDORET, KENYA

ETHICAL DILEMMAS FACING NURSES ON END-OF-LIFE ISSUES BASED ON CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS HELD IN ELDORET, KENYA