End- of- Life Care: Beneficence Undermines Patient’s Autonomy

Abstract

End-of-life care is a decision-making process in which health care providers, patients, and their families play a crucial role in easing the suffering of the patients and their families. Usually, end-of-life decision-making takes place in a critical situation of the patient; therefore, health care providers, particularly, physicians and nurses play a major role in making a decision for the patient’s life with regards to updated knowledge and practice. In this view, health care providers face many challenges in end-of-life decision-making due to controversy among equally unfavorable solutions; particularly between two ethical principles i.e., patient autonomy and beneficence. Health care providers often overweigh beneficence over autonomy regarding less suffering for the patient and his/her family. This approach of health care providers raises a question for undermining patients' autonomy and violating the basic ethical right of a patient. To overcome these kinds of ethical challenges, it is imperative to equip health care providers with updated knowledge of advance directives for patients. In addition, patients and their families should be well informed from the beginning to the end stage of the patient stay in the hospital. Besides, each hospital should have an ethical expert committee including nurses to analyze the entire situation and to make the decision in the best interest of the patient and his/her family.