NYTimes: If this were your mother, what would you do?

[Lya]

Very short, 1-page article. I thought some of you might find this interesting.



http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/if-this-was-your-mother-doctor/?hpw&_r=0


TL;DR:

When a patient asks what you would have done if this were your mother, one of recommended answers is "tell me more about your mother."

This response seems effective especially when the patient did not have any advanced directives, because it helps the family members remind themselves the patient's values and, perhaps more importantly, what it means to be healthy with a decent quality of life from the patient's perspective.

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[afk1994]

Honestly this is one of those impossible situations that doctors find themselves in. Doctors need compassion and the ability to interact with patients on a social level. Personally I would look at the patients chances of surviving and rehabbing as well as their life expectancy and make a decision based solely on statistics, but that's easier said than done. This may seem strange, but I would also look at the family's financial situation. I wouldn't want a family to keep their mother or father on life support for years and have them drown in hospital bills if they aren't doing well financially. That's just my two cents.