Introduction
Indian-born American surgeon Atul Gawande has written a heartfelt book about life on the verge of death. Gawande raises questions that help to comprehend what is not acceptable to think about. The author presents the topic from multiple perspectives – he combines statistics and research data, stories about the latest achievements in geriatrics and palliative medicine, cases from his medical practice, and personal anecdotes. When there is very little left to live, it is worth devoting the last days of life to spending them in peace, surrounded by loved ones.
Most Salient Topics
Today’s healthcare concerns, including hospice care, end-of-life care, and moral decision-making, are among the topics Dr. Gawande writes about. Topics that were most salient to me are related to how to accept one’s end. The book is divided into two parts: the first explores what it is like to die of old age, while the second discusses incurable diseases (Gwande, 2017). In both parts, the question was raised about when it was time to give up and stop fighting for life, focusing on its quality, not its duration. It is these indicators and the very idea that the most extended possible life is not a priority over a quiet, comfortable life that have become the most salient for me.
Influence on My Thinking
This reading had a profound influence on my thinking about healthcare ethics and professional practice. I have always believed that saving a patient’s life is necessary at any cost. In my opinion, it was always necessary to try to prolong the patient’s existence. However, after reading Dr. Gawande’s book, I viewed this position from a different perspective. I realized that it is less ethical to continually perform medical interventions on a patient who has virtually no chance of recovery (Gwande, 2017). Giving people the chance to spend their final moments peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, is a more humane approach.
Collaborating in Advanced Nursing Practice
Since the patient’s diagnosis, the interdisciplinary healthcare team and the family of the critically ill patient have collaborated. They approach this goal by developing, managing, and coordinating a culturally sensitive, patient-centered, family-focused, and evidence-based plan of care that spans care transitions, bereavement, and the appropriate application of technology. To achieve this, nurses provide various options for developing outcomes, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each (Chen, 2023). However, the final decision on how the patient wants to spend his last days or receive help remains with them and their family (Lichtstein, 2023). Additionally, nurses work to foresee future issues and talk to patients about what to do in urgent situations, such as whether to administer CPR on a terminally ill patient in case of cardiac arrest and the potential repercussions of that choice.
Conclusion
Thus, spending the final days of life peacefully and with loved ones is essential when there is not much time left to live. Nurses should consider which is more moral: extending misery or denying someone the chance to experience another worthwhile chapter in their life. This is a complex question that requires further reflection, and the answer to it will vary depending on the case of a particular patient. When giving it, it is necessary to be guided primarily by the patient’s and their family’s wishes and how they envision their last days.
References
Chen, H. (2023). Synergizing process and genre: Nurturing proficiency in L2 writing through advanced ESL instruction. Journal of Education and Educational Research, 5(1), 11-13.
Gwande, A. (2017). Being mortal. Metropolitan.
Lichtstein, D. M. (2023). Writing his own story, 1992. The American Journal of Medicine, 135(9), 945-946.