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Organ Donation Practices and End-of-life Care: Unusual Bedfellows or Comfortable Companions?

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Bioethics Beyond Altruism

Abstract

Public opinion associates Intensive Care Units (ICUs) with extraordinary stories of recovery against the odds, but also with an understanding that intensive care is a place where sick patients may die. With one in five patients dying in intensive care, end-of-life care is an important area for doctors and nurses who work in this area. However, due to New Zealand’s low organ donation rates compared to other developed countries, recent initiatives have been established to increase tissue and organ donation rates in these units. To date, there has been little exploration of whether promoting donation practices into ICUs challenge or support end-of-life care. Using case studies, this chapter examines bioethical principles around deceased donation practices within end-of-life care, to propose recommendations for practice and policy.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the donor families for so generously allowing the telling of their stories. Thanks are also extended to Janice Langlands from Organ Donation New Zealand for facilitating and gaining consent from the families. In addition, we thank Mrs Belinda Tuari-Toma, Policy Analysis, State Sector Effectiveness, Te Puni Kōkiri Iwi: Ngati Porou, Tuwharetoa and Te whānau Apanui for her advice on discussion of the last case in this chapter.

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  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Maureen Coombs & Martin Woods

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  1. Maureen Coombs
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  2. Martin Woods
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Correspondence to Maureen Coombs .

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  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Rhonda M Shaw

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Coombs, M., Woods, M. (2017). Organ Donation Practices and End-of-life Care: Unusual Bedfellows or Comfortable Companions?. In: Shaw, R. (eds) Bioethics Beyond Altruism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55532-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55532-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55531-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55532-4

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