Starve to Death?

[Sasha]

The agency I work for does mainly 911, but they do run a few non emergent transport calls.

So, today we were transporting one patient post CVA to Hospice. The patient could not longer eat, but her eyes were open and she sometimes responded.

They stated at hospice since she is NPO, they will not feed her because hospice is care and comfort and a g-tube or NG tube isnt considered care and comfort.

So the patient will starve to death.

Thankfully when we picked her up she was more wakeful then she had been since they had given her Ativan, theorizing the ativan just took awhile to wear off.

Is this possible? Is this right? To simply let a patient starve to death when its so easy to slip a feeding tube down their nare and feed them that way?

It broke my heart.

 

[sixmaybemore]

Sasha, that must have been a hard thing to see.

I know that this is not as uncommon as we would like to think, and that the entire scenario takes us into a sticky arena of morals, ethics, and religious beliefs.

 

[Sapphyre]

Hmmm, I had hospice pts with both G and NG tubes. Sasha are you sure that when your pt first started considering hospice care that she stated that she didn't want feeding tubes? BTW, yes, it's possible, both Teri Schivo and Pope John Paul II needed feeding tubes for nutrition. Teri's was removed, JPII never got one.

 

[BossyCow]

My own advance directive states no feeding tubes. When I'm unable to eat, I would rather be allowed to die than given nutrition to prolong the life of a dying body. I believe that when the body loses its desire to eat, that is part of the natural dying process and needs to be respected.

I think the mental/emotional images of 'starving to death' imparts a sort of drama and suffering that is very different from the natural withdrawal of a bodies desire/need for food at the end of life.

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Caregiver.......

I know this is part of the job that can be sad and at times heartbreaking, but you must remember, you are there to provide care for that patient, to keep them comfortable and safe for the transport. I have been on both sides of the gurney as a caregiver and a family member, empathy and compassion is one of our greatest strengths in this field. This is also the time of the year when you will see many more transports similar the one you just had. Empathy and compassion are the lessons we will always keep learning from.

Hope this helps........