Abstract
Improving Healthcare Provider Communication in End of Life Decision Making
Highlights
End of life decision making in the critical care setting is a complex and stressful event for all involved, including family members, patients and the healthcare team
5 million patients are admitted to critical care settings, with mortality rate as high as 40% [1]
Various patient factors, such as altered levels of consciousness, sedating medications, and impaired cognition often render critically ill patients unable to make their own health care decisions, leaving family members to be their surrogates in many decisions, including End- Of-Life (EOL) choices [2]
Summary
End of life decision making in the critical care setting is a complex and stressful event for all involved, including family members, patients and the healthcare team. 5 million patients are admitted to critical care settings, with mortality rate as high as 40% [1]. Various patient factors, such as altered levels of consciousness, sedating medications, and impaired cognition often render critically ill patients unable to make their own health care decisions, leaving family members to be their surrogates in many decisions, including End- Of-Life (EOL) choices [2]. Effective communication in this setting requires a skill that many healthcare providers have not received formal training [3].
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