Abandonment at the End of Life From Patient, Caregiver, Nurse, and Physician Perspectives

Abstract

Expert guidelines on caring for patients at the end of life emphasize the importance of not allowing a patient to feel abandoned, especially when the care plan includes withdrawal of disease-modifying treatment.^1-5 Nonabandonment has been cited as a primary tenet of medicine and a key value in professionalism.^6,7 However, limited empirical data describe how physicians put this value into practice. One study of intensive care unit family conferences observed that physicians missed opportunities to respond to family concerns about nonabandonment,⁸ although when present, expressions of nonabandonment correlated with higher family satisfaction.⁹