why doctors should be talking with their patients
Below is from an internet article about why doctors should be talking with their patients about the death process instead of always focusing on trying to keep them alive. After all, death is inevitable.
Traditionally, a doctor’s primary job was to keep you alive, not discuss how you want to die — or even if you are going to. Now, the paradigm is shifting. Instead of employing extreme measures, doctors are increasingly learning how to stop interrupting death — and to talk about what that looks like.
“Patients need to know what is happening to them, so they can plan,” says Tamara Vesel, MD, chief of palliative care at Tufts Medical Center and professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. “And doctors need to see illness and death as an opportunity for societal and personal growth instead of a societal and personal failure.”
Our discussion this week…..Should we spend less time, money, assets, on keeping dying patients alive, or face the inevitable and let people die painlessly with dignity? Now, of course, we are talking about terminal patients. Think about a family member: Is a week of procedures to keep them alive worth the possible pain and suffering they may experience, or should we just let them go on with dignity. You can share your own experience if you like. Please share your opinions in 300 words or more.
