end of life

Question 1

decisions at end of life

Answer 1

–use of feeding tube
-use of life sustaining procedures
-admission to nursing home
-anatomical gifts
-non-oral nutrition or hydration

Question 2

Advance directives purpose

Answer 2

An advance directive describes, in writing,
the patient’s choices about treatments
the patient wants or does not want, or
about how health care decisions should
be made if the patient becomes
incapacitated and cannot express these
wishes

Question 3

Living will

Answer 3

-informs physician about wants when patient is near death or in a persistent vegetative state

Question 4

Power of attorney

Answer 4

-permits another person to make medical decisions when the patient is not capable of doing so

Question 5

substituted judgement

Answer 5

the goal is to choose as
your loved one would have chosen even if it is not what you would decide for
yourself

Question 6

Explain how medical aid in dying is a form of active, voluntary euthanasia

Answer 6

-Active: use of lethal substance or force to induce death
-wouluntary: done with consent of the patient

Question 7

withholding vs withdrawing treatment

Answer 7

-morally equivalent

Question 8

relationship of ethical principles to end of life issues pharmacists may encounter

Answer 8

End of life issues commonly involve the principle of autonomy when considering whether to respect a patient’s
wish to die or when considering what choices a patient would have made at end of life. Beneficence and
nonmaleficence come into play when considering whether all killing is wrong, and whether quality of life is
considered a more important outcome than length of life.
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