Title

Incorporating Spiritual Beliefs Into End-of-Life Care

School/Department

School of Nursing

Publication Date

1-2009

Abstract

Nurses and other healthcare providers identify end-of-life (EOL) decision making as the most frequent ethical dilemma faced in care of the critically ill (Oberle & Hughes, 2001; Svantesson, Sjokvist, Thorsen, & Ahlstrom, 2006). In EOL care (EOLC), during which resuscitative efforts may be futile or against the wishes of the patient or surrogate, inappropriate prolongation of life can violate patient dignity and inordinately affect limited resources. The administration of "aggressive care," when the patient is not expected to benefit from that care, produces the highest level of moral distress for critical care staff nurses (Elpern, 2005).

Keywords

Nursing; End of life;

Publication Title

Journal of Christian Nursing

Volume

26

Issue

1

First Page

10

Last Page

17

DOI of Published Version

10.1097/01.CNJ.0000343918.55809.75

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