NURS 6303 Health Care Issues and Policy
Critical Analysis #2
Adrieanna D. Cox
March 27, 2017
Arkansas State University
The aim of the article “After the DNR: Surrogates who persist in requesting cardiopulmonary resuscitation” is to examine the roles that physicians play in end of life care along with surrogates who insist that their loved ones receive CPR even if the patient’s treatment team does not see such treatment as beneficial to the patients care. The authors found that although most surrogates will accept a medical decision not to offer CPR, there are some surrogates who will persist in their request for CPR that medical providers consider inappropriate (Robinson et al, 2017). The authors argue that some health …show more content…
The author found that since the ethics of surrogacy does not support surrogates’ moral authority to withhold palliative measures for patients’ severe and refractory symptoms, surrogate consent cannot be an ethical requirement for palliative sedation (Berger, 2017). The author argues that the issue with administering palliative sedation to terminally ill patients is whether or not surrogates have the right to reject it when it is a treatment of last resort. He describes the problem with a surrogate acting beyond their moral boundaries is when they make decisions for the patient based on their personal interests rather than the best interest of the patient. When a surrogate makes decisions for a patient’s end of life care that only seems to benefit the surrogate, the patient in a sense loses autonomy. This in turn is deemed unethical on the surrogate’s …show more content…
Out of a study of 134 patients, 19 patients ultimately persisted in requesting CPR, even after the recommendation of the treatment team that it would be more harmful than helpful to the patient. The study describes the demographics of these nineteen patients and some data analyzed suggested that the surrogates made decisions for the patients that were actually against the wishes laid out in their advance directives. The second article used a qualitative approach in which the author observed surrogates moral authority in making decisions about palliative sedation. I conclusion, I believe that both of these articles highlight some interesting topics in regards to end of life care. However, the first article provides insight on how surrogates’ decisions during end of life care can greatly affect patients. It gives the reader actual data whereas the second article describes more of the authors opinion on surrogates’ moral
Critical Analysis #2
Adrieanna D. Cox
March 27, 2017
Arkansas State University
The aim of the article “After the DNR: Surrogates who persist in requesting cardiopulmonary resuscitation” is to examine the roles that physicians play in end of life care along with surrogates who insist that their loved ones receive CPR even if the patient’s treatment team does not see such treatment as beneficial to the patients care. The authors found that although most surrogates will accept a medical decision not to offer CPR, there are some surrogates who will persist in their request for CPR that medical providers consider inappropriate (Robinson et al, 2017). The authors argue that some health …show more content…
The author found that since the ethics of surrogacy does not support surrogates’ moral authority to withhold palliative measures for patients’ severe and refractory symptoms, surrogate consent cannot be an ethical requirement for palliative sedation (Berger, 2017). The author argues that the issue with administering palliative sedation to terminally ill patients is whether or not surrogates have the right to reject it when it is a treatment of last resort. He describes the problem with a surrogate acting beyond their moral boundaries is when they make decisions for the patient based on their personal interests rather than the best interest of the patient. When a surrogate makes decisions for a patient’s end of life care that only seems to benefit the surrogate, the patient in a sense loses autonomy. This in turn is deemed unethical on the surrogate’s …show more content…
Out of a study of 134 patients, 19 patients ultimately persisted in requesting CPR, even after the recommendation of the treatment team that it would be more harmful than helpful to the patient. The study describes the demographics of these nineteen patients and some data analyzed suggested that the surrogates made decisions for the patients that were actually against the wishes laid out in their advance directives. The second article used a qualitative approach in which the author observed surrogates moral authority in making decisions about palliative sedation. I conclusion, I believe that both of these articles highlight some interesting topics in regards to end of life care. However, the first article provides insight on how surrogates’ decisions during end of life care can greatly affect patients. It gives the reader actual data whereas the second article describes more of the authors opinion on surrogates’ moral