Critical care nurse
-
Critical care nurse · Jul 1990
Case ReportsDischarging ICU ventilator-dependent patients to home healthcare.
Patients who are ventilator dependent have few alternatives to continued hospitalization. Within our institution and community, intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy and lack of skilled nursing facilities forced us to look for other ways to meet their healthcare needs. ⋯ Overcoming the anxiety and developing and implementing the discharge plan became our goals. The goals were achieved when the patient was effectively and safely discharged from the ICU to his home.
-
When dealing with the prospects of treating, not treating, or delaying treatment for handicapped newborns, there is no room for error. Since that is an impossible premise, one must make the best possible treatment plan for the newborn. The parents and members of the health care team should be included in the decision making. ⋯ Any errors must be made by promoting the best interests of the infant in question, by keeping the infant alive longer than necessary rather than providing a premature death. Never, under any circumstances, should an infant be starved, dehydrated, or outright killed; to do so is to violate the rights of the infant. The infant's rights to life without constant pain are also violated by the senseless prolongation of his life and the promotion of wrongful life through the excessive use of modern technology.