Friday, February 25, 2005
Repercussions
It amazes me how small the world community is. Due to advancements in mass media we're all just one big neighborhood, for better or worse.
Take the Terri Schiavo case for instance. This is an unfortunate woman who may, or may not, be in a PVS. Her husband (and POA) wants her tube feeding stopped because he says she has no "quality of life". However, her parents are fighting this and it has sparked much controversy on the net.
I'm a nurse practitioner that works with these types of situations a lot, where life and death choices are having to be made by POA's regarding their loved one's care.
The Schiavo case has had it's repercussions. Right now I have a gentleman who has had an acute, and likely reversible, delirium that has affected his swallowing. In fact, he is currently recovering from an aspiration pneumonia. Usually in these cases a feeding tube would be placed until the delirium improves and the patient is able to swallow normally again.
However, due to the Shiavo litigation his POA won't agree to have a feeding tube placed for fear that his swallowing won't improve and the tube will end-up being his only source of nutrition. The POA doesn't want this to wind-up in court with other family members. So now we're feeding this man by mouth who is grossly dysphagic, risking another aspiration (and possible death).
Fun stuff.
|
Take the Terri Schiavo case for instance. This is an unfortunate woman who may, or may not, be in a PVS. Her husband (and POA) wants her tube feeding stopped because he says she has no "quality of life". However, her parents are fighting this and it has sparked much controversy on the net.
I'm a nurse practitioner that works with these types of situations a lot, where life and death choices are having to be made by POA's regarding their loved one's care.
The Schiavo case has had it's repercussions. Right now I have a gentleman who has had an acute, and likely reversible, delirium that has affected his swallowing. In fact, he is currently recovering from an aspiration pneumonia. Usually in these cases a feeding tube would be placed until the delirium improves and the patient is able to swallow normally again.
However, due to the Shiavo litigation his POA won't agree to have a feeding tube placed for fear that his swallowing won't improve and the tube will end-up being his only source of nutrition. The POA doesn't want this to wind-up in court with other family members. So now we're feeding this man by mouth who is grossly dysphagic, risking another aspiration (and possible death).
Fun stuff.
# posted by Joe Florida @ 5:42 AM 
