It’s hard to say goodbye to a loved one. It’s even harder when they seem to suffer in their final days.
Patients don’t want to die badly, meaning they don’t want to die in a way they wouldn’t have chosen if they had time to prepare. Every individual has preferences, values and morals. Most people want to be cognitively and emotionally themselves, not attached to breathing machines.
Education and communication can end dying badly. Speak about death with your family, and consider what to do if something unplanned occurred. Talk to your doctor. Have a plan in place so you don’t enter the end-of-life conveyor belt of tubes and machines if that doesn’t appeal to you.
When someone can’t speak for themselves, it’s tough to make a decision for end of life. Family dynamics may play out with members wanting to hold on. Have a conversation about what’s best for the patient. It may take time to sort out and accept what would best suit the patient’s desires.
Listen as Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter joins Dr. Holly Lucille to speak on a dignified and good end of life.
Selected Podcast
Better Path to End of Life
Featuring:
Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, MPH, is an expert on the medical experience of death and dying. She attended Stanford University and Case Western Reserve Medical School, and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She was a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California San Francisco.
Zitter is double-boarded in the two specialties of pulmonary/critical care medicine and palliative care medicine; a rare combination.
Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, MPH
Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, MPH, is an expert on the medical experience of death and dying. She attended Stanford University and Case Western Reserve Medical School, and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She was a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California San Francisco. Zitter is double-boarded in the two specialties of pulmonary/critical care medicine and palliative care medicine; a rare combination.
She writes for the New York Times, Huffington Post, Pacific Standard, Atlantic, and Journal of Palliative Medicine, and is featured in Extremis, an award-winning documentary about end-of-life decision-making in an ICU.