ltc pp 2

End of Life Care and the Family An 80-year-old man in a coma, with no hope of recovery, is admitted to an LTC facility where you are employed as a healthcare administrator. The man has not prepared an advance directive such as a living will or healthcare proxy. The patient’s religion does not require artificial nutrition or hydration, and all members of the patient’s family agree that the patient does not want to die with tubes attached to him. The attending physician has met with the family prior to completing the PLST form to determine what orders he will write. The physician informs the family that the patient will die in a few days without having a feeding tube inserted for water and liquid food. The feeding tube my keep him alive for a number of years. If there is no feeding tube for hydration, his death might be painful or uncomfortable. The physician and the facility’s religious affiliation would prefer to treat the patient with artificial hydration via a feeding tube rather than do nothing. The family has refused the feeding tube, and the physician has referred the matter to the institution’s ethics committee.