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55 - Care of the Dying Patient
from Section 12 - End of Life
- By Ashley Shreves
Edited by Kaushal Shah, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, Jarone Lee, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Edited in association with Clark G. Owyang, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, Benjamin Christian Renne, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Book:

Practical Emergency Resuscitation and Critical Care

Published online:

02 November 2023

Print publication:

23 November 2023, pp 591-597
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Summary

Palliative medicine focuses on maximizing the quality of life of patients with serious illnesses. For many patients in the critical care setting, the best medical treatments and technologies are unable to reverse advanced disease processes, as evidenced by the fact that 20% of Americans died in or after ICU care. Even when treatments can prolong life, they may not ultimately allow patients to achieve a quality of life acceptable to them. Functional and cognitive independence are highly valued by patients and yet most chronically, critically ill patients never live independently again. Honest, transparent, empathetic communication is the cornerstone of determining how to deliver effective, patient-centered medical care for these patients.