Biomaterial Database

"The die is cast": telling patients they are going to die. 1992

C G Ward

University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, FL 33101.

The decision not to resuscitate a patient with burns is an issue of concern, with advocates both for and against. Most patients have not had previous experience with major burn injuries. It is therefore unreasonable to expect them or their families to act from a position of knowledge. There is a subset of patients considered for "do not resuscitate" orders who are nonsurvivors. If the outcome is predictable, the responsibility of the burn team is to inform patients and their families. Such discussion should come within the first few hours of admission, when the patient is fully awake and able to understand, to respond, and to make plans.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010817	Physician-Patient Relations	The interactions between physician and patient.	Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D002056	Burns	Injuries to tissues caused by contact with heat, steam, chemicals (BURNS, CHEMICAL), electricity (BURNS, ELECTRIC), or the like.	Burn
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001293	Attitude to Death	Conceptual response of the person to the various aspects of death, which are based on individual psychosocial and cultural experience.	Attitudes to Death,Death, Attitude to,Death, Attitudes to
D014342	Truth Disclosure	Truthful revelation of information, specifically when the information disclosed is likely to be psychologically painful ("bad news") to the recipient (e.g., revelation to a patient or a patient's family of the patient's DIAGNOSIS or PROGNOSIS) or embarrassing to the teller (e.g., revelation of medical errors).	Disclosure, Truth,Disclosure, Error,Disclosures, Error,Disclosures, Truth,Error Disclosure,Error Disclosures,Truth Disclosures
D016414	Resuscitation Orders	Instructions issued by a physician pertaining to the institution, continuation, or withdrawal of life support measures. The concept includes policies, laws, statutes, decisions, guidelines, and discussions that may affect the issuance of such orders.	DNR Orders,Do Not Resuscitate Order,Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders,Resuscitation Decisions,Resuscitation Policies,Withholding Resuscitation,DNR Order,Decision, Resuscitation,Do Not Resuscitate Orders,Do-Not-Resuscitate Order,Order, DNR,Order, Do-Not-Resuscitate,Order, Resuscitation,Policy, Resuscitation,Resuscitation Decision,Resuscitation Order,Resuscitation Policy
D028761	Withholding Treatment	Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.	Withdrawing Care,Cessation of Treatment,Withdrawing Treatment,Care, Withdrawing,Treatment Cessation,Treatment Cessations,Treatment, Withdrawing,Treatment, Withholding,Treatments, Withdrawing,Treatments, Withholding,Withdrawing Treatments,Withholding Treatments