Abstract
Health-care delivery is a complex process dependent on many factors, such as availability of medical staff, apparatus and procedures, societal norms, legal stipulations, and cultural and religious convictions. Decisions regarding the extent of treatment at the end of patients’ lives can be especially difficult and conflictual for many reasons; prominent among them is the challenge of the assessment as to when or how long the application of life-sustaining treatments in emergency departments or intensive care units is appropriate, as opposed to when it only prolongs undue suffering for the patient and the family. However, prolonged contemplation or inaction will likely not foster optimal results of such decision-making processes. Rather, a firm knowledge of the relevant medical principles and practices, an understanding of the patients’ wishes and values, and a respectful leadership with persistence in communication, cooperation, and consensus-building will help to accomplish the mission to arrive at appropriate decisions regarding treatment and care in critical circumstances.
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Michalsen, A., Sadovnikoff, N. (2020). To Treat or Not to Treat: How to Arrive at an Appropriate Decision Under Critical Circumstances. In: Michalsen, A., Sadovnikoff, N. (eds) Compelling Ethical Challenges in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43127-3_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43127-3_15
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