Death and Dying: How do you feel about this issue?

Hi class,
Working in an ICU setting unfortunately means that there will be times when issues of death and dying will occur. How do you feel about death and dying? Will you be able to handle the death of a patient that you have been caring for and thought they would be OK? What will you do when you don't agree with the wishes of the patient or family member/s regarding death related decisions?
End-of-life decisions may have been made by the patient, in which time, those decisions must be respected or there might be a situation where this subject was never brought up before by the patient or family. When a family member or representative must become the primary decision maker for the patient that cannot make their own decision, they often become the spokesperson for the family and consult with family members when it comes to complex decisions (Quinn, Schmitt, Baggs, Norton, Dombeck, & Sellers, 2012). Whatever the situation, discussing end-of-life care decisions is not easy but it can improve the quality of life of the patient and relieve some of the emotional burden on the family that is left behind (Zeytinoglu, 2011).
End-of-life care decisions might have never been discussed by the critically ill patient because the illness might have been sudden and unexpected, which makes it even harder making the right decision. It is sometimes difficult to understand the decisions that a patient or family member makes regarding end-of-life care, but nurses have the obligation to respect these decisions and not impose their opinions or disappointment regarding these decisions. Sometimes nurse have to take a step back and realize that patients and family members have to make these decisions on their own without pressure or influence from the outside. So as hard as it might be to keep our opinions to ourselves, we have to keep it to ourselves and be as supportive as we can and provide the best care possible.
So have you ever thought about end-of-life care? Don't be afraid to speak about it with family and friends. We don't like to think about these issues but it can make a big difference in how we spend the end of our lives.

Speak to you soon in the next class.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

(quote by Mahatma Gandhi)

References

Quinn, J. R., Schmitt, M., Baggs, J. G., Norton, S. A., Dombeck, M. T., & Sellers, C. R. (2012). Family members’ informal roles in end-of-life decision making in adult intensive care units. American Journal of Critical Care, 21, 1, 43-58.

Zeytinoglu, M. (2011). Talking it out: Helping our patients live better while dying. Annals of Internal Medicine, 154, 12, 830-832. Retrieved from http://libsys.uah.edu/kaplan/