Reserve judgement: aligning with patients at the end of life

It can be particularly challenging to care for dying patients who insist that they are not and request intensive, seemingly futile treatments. Physicians often feel disconnected from such patients.

For many, there is the belief that we are different from these patients, more able to accept our own mortality, less likely to desire high intensity, high technology treatments at the EOL. The literature on physician utilization of resources at the EOL paints a different picture. We are reminded how vulnerable we all are to the forces that drive patients towards aggressive treatment at the EOL and in that recognition of our shared humanity, better able to align with our patients.

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