Withdrawal Of Life Support

Withdrawal Of Life Support
Name:
Institution:
INTRODUCTION
Hearing it from the news, you probably understand the decisions to withdraw life. A notable case in 2005 in the media of Terry Schiavo that dealt with whether to decide to discontinue the life of her husband which sparked a national debate. It's not the first case we've heard in America, life support or nutritional support in treatment is meant to prolong life without changing the situation of that person's condition. This includes artificial nutrition, kidney dialysis, chemotherapy, mechanical ventilation and antibiotics. Advanced technology in medicine is helping people to live longer; including the lives of people who cannot sustain life on their own at their own expense. These artificial means, allows someone the chance to live longer or to recover if possible.
METHODOLOGY
This paper is based on discussion, analysis and review of data that mainly develop through relevant secondary sources. These include: Publications in English language, known reviewers and texts, Bibliographies from included texts, live saving populations and research-based studies. A number of databases used in the process are Pub Med or Medline, national Institute of Health, American Family Physician and the Cochrane Collaborations. These databases included in the main sources have provided necessary information ranging from the ethics to the development of the withdrawal of life support and some case studies carried out in American medical Institutes.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Two major limitations encountered in this study were on limitation of sources and on the available data in some aspects. For instance, for such a controversial topic, the case studies available are not discussed by many institutes or in depth as expected. Analyzing some key determining aspects in this topic like the cost for instance was problematic due to the widely varying range of costs across the states and depending on the health institute.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The AMACME (American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics) states, "A competent person, may formulate or provide consent to the withdrawing and withholding of life-support systems if that injury renders them incompetent to make that decision. This decision can be made in the form of a Living Will or Advanced Health care Directive allows someone to make that decision for them if they are not able to make it. The important thing to do is, knowing what that patient would want if they were conscious and your own evaluation decisions about the expectations of the patient to recover, the benefits, risks and review the Preferred Intensity of Care form if you're in a nursing home. If you don't know much about the patient, you should consult that persons relative or friends, to ask them what that person would want. It will help you to decide whether to keep that person alive or not (Way, Back, & Randall, 2002).
Clinical intensive care unit m...