Resuscitation or not? What would you want in this situation?!
Question: Resuscitation or not? What would you want in this situation?
Answers:
I would not want to be stopped from moving on, ie I don't wan't to be saved, would be time to go.
As a nurse we are faced with this every single day. You have to follow what your patient wants.
Me? I do not want to be forced to stay alive. If my quality of life is poor then nope, I wouldn't want to stick around.
You know, there is much controversy regarding assisted suicide but what people don't realize is that it is done every single day. It's just that nobody talks about it.
There are lots of variables which would determine which direction to choose. If the doctors thought there might be a chance of recovery with treatments that could allow me to go back home and live my life with whatever time I had left, that is what I would choose. If I thought that the treatments were not making any difference in my condition and I was continuing to deteriorate to the point that it would be possible that my heart might stop, then I would not want to be resuscitated and would want to be allowed to die. Every person needs to have this discussion with their physicians as to how far they want treatment to go and a majority of people never do - thus the brain dead on a ventilator which the family now has to decide when to shut off. All of this should be in writing and everyone in your family should know your wishes and then, they should support you in whatever way they can to keep you as comfortable, in the place that you want to be (home/hospice) for as long as possible and to die a dignified death.
Health care provider - see this all the time