Ethical Concerns Caring for the Stroke Patient

Stroke is a sudden, unexpected illness with an uncertain prognosis for functional recovery. Ethical issues in the care of patients with stroke include assessment of decision-making capacity when cognition or communication is impaired, prognostication, evaluation of quality of life, withdrawal or wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCritical care nursing clinics of North America Vol. 32; no. 1; p. 121
Main Author Mahanes, Dea
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.2020
Subjects
Critical care
Ethics
Stroke
Prognosis
Decision making
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Summary:Stroke is a sudden, unexpected illness with an uncertain prognosis for functional recovery. Ethical issues in the care of patients with stroke include assessment of decision-making capacity when cognition or communication is impaired, prognostication, evaluation of quality of life, withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatment, and how to optimize surrogate decision making. Skilled communication between clinicians and patients or their surrogates promotes shared decision making and may prevent ethical conflict. Nurses with an understanding of the ethics of stroke care play an important role in the care of patients with stroke and their families.
ISSN:1558-3481
DOI:10.1016/j.cnc.2019.11.001