BIOETHICAL DECISION-MAKING: Considerations for Advance Planning

As the American health care system grows more complex, especially in the wake of the Terri Schiavo case, there is a growing public awareness of the need for advance planning involving end of life decisions. Conflicts among health care professionals, patients, families and payors are almost inevitable given the growing number of choices available, particularly when it comes to terminal prognoses and death. Participants in this seminar will learn of the controversy surrounding the living will, the use of the out-of-hospital do not resuscitate order and legal considerations of capacity that impact the individual's right to voluntary decision making. Issues of voluntary versus involuntary approaches to ethical decision making will be explored using clinical examples.