Dietitians' role in decisions to withhold nutrition and hydration.
Decisions to limit nutrition and hydration in irreversibly or terminally ill patients are becoming more frequent in both hospitals and home-care settings. Although clear-cut principles or rules are not always possible, appropriate decisions about any form of life-sustaining treatment, nutrition and hydration included, require conducting a productive moral conversation within the medical management team and/or the institutional ethics committee. In this article, we discuss how dietitians can participate in these medical decisions.
Brody
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Department of Family Practice, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1313.
Noel
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MB
D004046:Dietetics / Q000592:standards*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D004989:Ethics; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013727:Terminal Care; D028761:Withholding Treatment