Title

Ethical Documentation at the End of Life

Authors

James T. Pathoulas, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2015

Disciplines

Bioethics and Medical Ethics | Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Patient autonomy is a basic tenet of ethical decision making in medicine. Individuals who are unable to participate in decision making at the end of life present a unique challenge to delivering ethical patient-­centered care. To ensure patient autonomy is upheld, providers are encouraged to use healthcare directives to guide clinical decision-­making. Healthcare directives are designed to uphold patient autonomy by indicating the desired scope of care at the end of life. While a particular type of healthcare directive, the advance care directive, is widely accepted, there are two common issues concerning its use: interpretation and accessibility. Issues with advance care directives have been largely circumvented by a new method of documentation: the physician order for life sustaining treatment (POLST). In addition to a review of the ethical issues pertaining to healthcare directives, this paper will outline a multi-­methodological study proposal developed with support from the Lindmark Fellowship in Ethics.

Comments

Faculty mentor: Dr. Jennifer Kramer, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Communication, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University.

Recommended Citation

Pathoulas, James T., "Ethical Documentation at the End of Life" (2015). Lindmark Fellowship in Ethics. 1.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/elce_lindmark/1