End-of-life decision making in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Physicians are increasingly involved in how their critically ill patients die [72]. The more this happens, the more physicians will have to understand not only how their own backgrounds and biases influence their medical management, but also the cultural and religious backgrounds of the patient and surrogate [72, 73]. The medical profession must realise that, despite tremendous advances in medical knowledge and technology, not everyone can be saved all the time, even in the area of intensive care. Physicians must understand that "doing everything" that is best for the patient may not mean starting epinephrine or performing CPR, but rather may imply moving from a process of curing to caring with palliative care [10]. This process should be initiated by discussions with the patient or surrogate, and should include knowledge of the patients' wishes as demonstrated by advance directives and durable power of attorney. The patient's code status and the intention of forgoing life-sustaining treatment should be discussed with other members of staff together with the patient and/or family in a compassionate and humane manner. The wishes of the patient and family should be taken into consideration and the physician must try to make an impartial decision by doing what is medically and ethically correct and best for this specific patient. Hopefully, in this way, a more ethical and compassionate approach to end-of-life decisions in the ICU will be obtained.