Artificial feeding-Terri Schiavo

[ktwlpn]

I posted this here becaue I think this subject is something that we as nurses deal with on a regular basis.....Many many people state that they have a big problem with the feeding being stopped "allowing her to starve to death" The Vatican says " To starve her to death is pitiless" Most everyone agrees that it is one's right to refuse to initiate artificial feeding but somehow this situation "is different" How? The patient "starves to death " in both cases-so why has this one galvanized the WORLD? My husband read me a quote from the Bible -forgive me because I can't remember it in detail-it was something along the lines that a woman marries and leaves her father's house and her husband becomes her family....My husband is my POA I hope no-one in my family questions his motives -He KNOWS exactly what I want....I can't question her husbands motives-I know that some suspect foul play and state the results of a bone scan support this...That bone scan was obtained 53 months after she went into her coma-after her body suffered the effects of her eating disorders for a number of years.... Her present level of responsiveness does not pertain to this matter IMHO-she CAN'T eat naturally--she did not ever want to "be kept alive like that " and she can't state otherwise at this point...So- #1 can someone PLEASE make me see why this case is" DIFFERENT" and #2 How do YOU support your patients and their loved ones when they are agonizing over this decision? ONe thing I always ask is "Did your loved one ever give you any idea of what they would want if something like this happened" and if they did then I advocate that stance for that pt as much possible.......I believe that death is the last great trip we'll go on and we should PLAN it as much as possible.The greatest GIFT we can give to our loved ones is an itinerary...........

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

Michael Schiavo is both a respiratory therapist and a registered nurse.

He testified in a malpractice case that he was studying nursing so that he could help take care of terri for the rest of her life.

i guess that was for as long as he wanted her to live, huh?

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

According to the report filed by the guardian who was appointed by Gov Jeb Bush back in 02 or 03, Terri and her husband were trying to have a baby, and that doesn't sound like estrangement to me.

do you know how stressful it is trying to get pregnant? it can cause estrangement or near estrangement.

[leslie :-D]

And this may be a dumb question, being that I'm a student and all, but WHY would a nurse follow Michael's orders (if that is indeed what happened, and I have doubts, but that is neither here nor there) or any other orders besides the docs? I know about critical thinking and how that comes into play, but if a family member told me not to turn/massage/ROM, etc., when I that is specifically part of my duties, why wouldn't I just continue to do it anyway? I don't mean to sound beligerent or anything here - I'm truly asking if this really happens nowadays, and if so, what nurses do about it. Ignore it? Chart it? Notify doc? All of the above?

first of all, there's no such thing as a dumb question.

whenever you encounter a belligerent family member who is giving you questionable orders, you go to your nurse manager. personally i'd go directly to the DON but i'm just saying some go up the chain of command.

and YES! document what the family member said and who you spoke to about it. documentation is so very important.

leslie

[Jenny99]

I know this sounds crude, but Terri's parents obviously have postponed their own grievance process and refused to deal with the idea that their daughter was to die. Unfortunately, Terri should have died a long time ago. In my opinion, the parents are very selfish at this point.

No Twinkle Toes, it is not crude to say - you are 100 percent correct. The parents of Terri will long remember their legal struggles and the hatred of Michael rather than their precious daughter. Michael was 110 percent correct in his actions and I applaud him. :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap:

jenny99

[begalli]

It looks like Terry will die soon. I guess I'll say a couple of prayers for her now (and other people can join in too if they want):

I am in no way, shape, or form a religious person of any type, but I wanted thank you for your touching words.

This whole thing really is terribly sad.

[begalli]

We all have opinions formed on the basis of our own beliefs from what little we really know about the events surrounding Terri Shaivo's life.

Whatever happened, happened. It doesn't seem to matter anymore does it?

I just heard on the news that she's receiving morphine. That's good.

This might sound weird, but I thank her for entering my life. Even though it was in such a strange way.

May she rest in peace.

[Twinkle Toes]

No Twinkle Toes, it is not crude to say - you are 100 percent correct. The parents of Terri will long remember their legal struggles and the hatred of Michael rather than their precious daughter. Michael was 110 percent correct in his actions and I applaud him. :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap:

jenny99

Jenny99 - Thank you for your encouraging thoughts. For a minute there I thought I was the bad guy. What can I say I'm a realistic person and sometime people need to be brought back to reality. Hope you have a great Easter.

Twinkle Toes.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Jenny99 - Thank you for your encouraging thoughts. For a minute there I thought I was the bad guy. What can I say I'm a realistic person and sometime people need to be brought back to reality. Hope you have a great Easter.

Twinkle Toes.

I'm not saying I don't agree with you. However, we have to nonjudgementally allow them to come to reality in their own time, not ours. And we should be empathetic if they don't come to reality.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

No Twinkle Toes, it is not crude to say - you are 100 percent correct. The parents of Terri will long remember their legal struggles and the hatred of Michael rather than their precious daughter. Michael was 110 percent correct in his actions and I applaud him. :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap:

jenny99

Good point. But look how long it took him to "come to reality". He tried years of agreesive and expensive treatment those first few years.

[ValerieB]

I think it's really ashame that all of this is boiling down to "winning" and not about Terry. I've said it before that Michael could have taken the easy way out a long time ago and gotten a divorce. I loved the prayer that someone submitted recently. It was beautiful. I hope that the Lord is wrapping his arms around Terri and when he does finally take her to his house, that she will be a gaurdian angel for others that are suffering with eating disorders. I believe that things always happen for a reason. Now, allot of people who never thought about a living will are getting one and maybe people are getting help for their eating disorders so they don't suffer like she did.

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

Good point. But look how long it took him to "come to reality". He tried years of agreesive and expensive treatment those first few years.

hum. so she would have wanted that treatment the first few years, but suddenly after he got that settlement he "remembered" that she'd rather be dead.

sounds real likely to me!

[rach_nc_03]

5 times at least Terri has had severe hypoglycemic episodes. They have all been after he has visited, gone in the room and shut the door and told staff to not come in. He's suspected of injecting her with insulin. Her blood sugars have always been stable due to the uniformity of her diet.

wait a minute- if she's on tube feeds, I can't see how her blood glucose levels have been stable. In the ICU where I work, patients on tube feeds are always on q6 hour glucose checks, and continuous tube feeds require q1 hour checks because of the tendency towards hypoglycemia.

i don't see how this argument can be true.