Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You carry out the doctor's orders.
You think to yourself, "If I talk to the doctor, he could resent me for
interfering. Even if he decides to take my advice, he might be hostile towards
me in the future. And after all, he is a physician. He must know more about
this than I do."
You send the parents home with instructions to continue with the treatment
medications. They beg you to tell them whether you think the treatments can
help. You reply that this is a question for the doctor, not for you.
After a few weeks, the little girl is readmitted back to the hospital.
She has been very uncomfortable for the past few weeks, and the parents are
very frustrated because nothing seems to be working.
The little girl lives only for a few more days. You wish that you had urged
the doctor to change his approach so her last weeks could have been better.
This is not what discharge coordinator Frances McNeil would do. She would
ask the doctor to reconsider.
"Then we can provide home hospice -- a kind of care that will make the
child more comfortable," she says. "Instead of feeling that they
are failing in helping the child get well, the parents can feel good about
caring for the child and making her comfortable."