End-Of-Life Communication in the ICU - by David W Crippen (Hardcover)

About the Book

Talking to patients and their families about end-of-life issues can be difficult and stressful. This book looks at ways different cultures view death and then further explores how health care providers around the world communicate about such sensitive issues.

Book Synopsis

Talking to patients and their families about end-of-life issues can be difficult and stressful. This book looks at ways different cultures view death and then further explores how health care providers around the world communicate about such sensitive issues as withholding or withdrawing life support and discussing options when the outcome is uncertain. By offering a better understanding of cultural differences in attitudes about death and methods of communications about end-of-life issues, coverage helps prepare health care practitioners to be better communicators within and outside of their own cultures

From the Back Cover

Advances in technology have led to a global network of physicians in which information, data, and practices can be openly shared to help ensure high-quality care. End-of-Life Communication in the ICU is a manifestation of this belief that a multiplicity of perspectives can assist in the decision-making process. The book, with contributions from a diverse group of leaders in the international ICU community, examines how different cultures view death and explores how healthcare providers around the world communicate to patients and family members such sensitive issues as withholding or withdrawing life support and discussing options when the outcome is uncertain. Intensivists and other members of the intensive care unit will benefit greatly from this thoughtful dialogue about the emotional, ethical, and legal complexities of making end-of-life decisions.

Review Quotes

From the reviews:

"This is multiauthored collection of perspectives on medical futility, its communication, and its management in the critical care setting. ... Senior staff, fellows, and residents at all levels are an appropriate audience for this work which originates from a multinational set of authors with an interest in end-of-life care." (David J. Dries, Doody's Review Service, February, 2008)

"The book chronicles a wide range of views from practitioners, ethicists, historians, scientists, health care administrators, and consumers from around the world and examines how these interactions affect global health care delivery. The book is loosely organized into brief chapters that capture multinational perspectives on end-of-life care, resource management in critical care, and ethics. ... offers the reader a cultural tour of end-of-life communication practices through the eyes of frontline practitioners." (Elaine C. Meyer, JAMA, October, 2008)