“You Can See Your Loved One Now.” Can Visitor Restrictions During Covid Unduly Influence End-of-Life Decisions?

One of the factors considered most important by dying patients and their families is the opportunity to be together. For many of our hospitalized patients in palliative care, the presence of loved ones at the bedside is such a given that we don’t even address it explicitly in advance care planning discussions. So, it comes as no surprise that Covid- 19-related visitor restrictions affecting hospitalized patients might impact end-of-life decision-making, potentially in ways that are ethically problematic. The post “You Can See Your Loved One Now.” Can Visitor Restrictions During Covid Unduly Influence End-of-Life Decisions? appeared first on The Hastings Center.
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care COVID-19 end of life End of life decisions Hastings Bioethics Forum hospital visitor restrictions syndicated Source Type: blogs