Abstract

Caring for seriously ill patients and their families during times of extreme stress is a privilege, but it can also bring much sadness and ethical turmoil for everyone involved, particularly at end of life. Patients and their families and the nurses and physicians who care for them are uniquely bonded together as they discuss, discern, and deliberate on some of the most heart-wrenching life and death decisions any patient, parent, family member, or partner can make. Shifting from a curative mode of thinking is never easy, simple, or clear-cut. All of us share hopeful moments with our patients when we see, for example, an unexpected limb movement, a period of lucidity, or short-term physiological stability in...