What Would You Do? Passing On: End of Life Conflicts- 1 Contact Hour

Course overview

Target Audience: The target audience for this education program is nurses who want to improve their ability to deal with the ethical dilemma resulting from conflicts between patients and family regarding treatment and end-of-life issues. Course Overview: Nurses face many ethical decisions, often on a daily basis. One of the most difficult ethical dilemmas nurses face involves working with patients and families who have different views about the patient’s treatment. This education program deals with a patient who has an advanced, but treatable form of cancer, and has decided he does not want treatment. His family wants everything possible to be done, and the patient (when his family is present) agrees with them. However, when the nurse and the patient are alone, he confides that he, in fact, does not want to pursue treatment. How should such a situation be handled? Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this course the learner will be able to: 1. Describe how patient’s rights in healthcare settings are incorporated into informed patient decision making. 2. Discuss the role of the ethics committee in helping to resolve patient and family conflicts regarding treatment. 3. Identify strategies to reduce the ramifications of ethical dilemmas as they pertain to conflicts between family and the patient regarding treatment.