Promoting patient decision making in life-and-death situations.
OBJECTIVE
To review factors in the health care culture that deny seriously ill patients' last wishes regarding care.


METHODS
Review articles and research studies that pertain to decision making.


CONCLUSIONS
Decision making in palliative care has been identified as an understudied area. Although there are significant benefits to being involved in treatment decision making, long-term follow-up of the consequences of active participation in the final stages of life is lacking.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses have a role to play in assisting patients and their families in treatment decision making in both the curative and palliative phase of care. A nursing intervention to promote patient involvement in decision making is described.
Davison
B J
BJ
Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Degner
L F
LF
D001293:Attitude to Death; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D010358:Patient Participation