Continuance of nutritional care in the terminally ill patient.
Food and water can be naturally delivered to dying patients, or they can be medically delivered. If medically delivered, they are called nutrition and fluids. As such they should be regarded just like all other medical interventions when calculating their burdens and benefits to dying patients. A set of guidelines is proposed on which a policy might be based.
D026686:Beneficence; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D009014:Morals; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D040841:Resource Allocation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013727:Terminal Care; D014481:United States; D026712:Value of Life; D028761:Withholding Treatment