ICU Ethical dilemma

[Rin nohara]

Hi

I am new grad nurse in the ICU. I fell in love with the unit and the things these nurses were doing. Please don't judge me,  what the point of treating brain dead patient?  or any patient who is dying but the family won't let go. what the point put patient with 7 IV drip if everyone knows the patient is dying?  isn't the patient sufficating because  the family decision?  Please don't judge me, I am still naive.

Thank you. 

[Davey Do]

Yours is a good question, Rin nohara, and it's a question we nurses often ask ourselves.

Families have an extremely difficult time giving up hope and allowing a loved one to pass away for as long as possible. This type of situation occurs all the time.

I sense the bigger question here is how to deal with something which is difficult to rationalize and still be the kind of nurse you want to be.

As nurses, we are to provide services to patients and those with the power to make decisions for our patients. We often have to separate from our own personal beliefs in order to perform those services and do our job.

One of the concepts my first nursing instructor expressed that I carved in concrete was objectivity. We as nurses need to always take an objective approach in providing care for our patients.

Or, as a wise supervisor once told me, "You don't have to like it, you only have to do it".

I could get behind that. After all, I was paid for providing services and not for changing people's minds in order for them to think my way.

Which is the right way.

Just kidding, Rin nohara. Continue being a good nurse, be objective, accept others' beliefs no matter how far from your own, and live happily ever after.

Okay?

[RNperdiem, RN]

As nurses we often see the patient through a lens of logic, and the family sees the same situation through the lens of emotion. 

Sometimes a brain dead patient will be kept going so the organs can be donated. Other times, we need to buy time until the family can all gather to say goodbye before we withdraw treatment. I work in a large state hospital where many family members have to travel some distance to reach the family member.

Other times the family can't really emotionally accept that their loved one is dying. A miracle is bound to come, and to admit death might be seen as a sign of disloyalty. 

[LovingLife123]

If they are actually brain dead, we don’t treat them unless they are a donor.  Brain death is death.  We usually give the family a few hours to say goodbye then that’s it.  
 

Hanging on with family is a common issue.  It’s frustrating and you feel like you are torturing the patient.  But, it’s what the family wants.  This is why it’s important to put your wishes in writing.  Then I often tell families their loved one graciously made the decision for them and they don’t have to feel like they are deciding their fate.