End of life care: literature review

Abstract

Most of the literature failed to give an exact meaning for the end-of-life or the end-of-life care. However, there are some authors tried to give a brief description of this term. These two descriptions seem vague and general. Finding an exact or comprehensive definition of end-of-life care seems very difficult. Findings from the reviewed studies in this study provide overlapping views and perceptions regarding the expected outcomes of allowing family-witnessed resuscitation (FWR). For family members, the majority of the reviewed studies show that family members would like to attend their loved ones’ CPR. Many of them stated that this is one of their rights. For patients, most of them thought that FWR is convenient and would support the resuscitated patient. However, a few patients expressed concerns regarding the effect of this presence on health professionals’ performance, and then the effect on the resuscitated patient. FWR was debatable in studies that assessed health professionals’ attitudes and beliefs regarding this subject. There were several studies that showed that FWR would result in valuable benefits for family members, patients, and health professionals. However, many studies raised concerns regarding this presentation, such as the psychological effect of this presence on family members, the extra stress that might result on health professionals, and the legal litigation which might arise from this presence.