Nurses and physicians on nutritional support: a comparison.
During the last decade, several court cases have focused attention on the moral and legal aspects of withholding or withdrawing food and fluids from certain patients. The courts have not been unanimous in their judgements on these matters. In attempting to explore this issue, this article reviews both the nursing and medical literature on the withdrawing and withholding of food and fluids with particular attention to empirical studies. Several themes which emerge from the literature are used to explore the similarities and differences between the practices of nursing and medicine where nutritional support is concerned.
Liaschenko
J
J
University of California, San Francisco 94284.
Davis
A J
AJ
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004309:Double Bind Interaction; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012803:Sick Role; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D028761:Withholding Treatment