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Marijke Vroomen-Durning RN's Answers

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Is "Watchful Waiting" ethical doctor's advice and appropriate acceptance by patients?

I've been part of (on the nurse's side) of patient care with watchful waiting and the subject of (as the patient) of watchful waiting.

I think for certain health issues, it is entirely a ppropriate...
- answered Apr 30, 2010 at 07:20AM
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Is it ethical for any physician to use the word "death" with a patient, and in particular, when does a physician cease to impart hope to a terminally ill patient?

Death is a reality and it is a word that must be used. I'm wondering why it would not be considered ethical.

Not all patients can and will be cured. It's a sad fact, but it is true. By no t...
- answered Apr 29, 2010 at 06:59AM
- 3 people found this answer useful
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As a patient, how to you feel about the physician’s use of intuition, as you define it, and whether you think it is something that doctors should use?

Have you read Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink? It's a good read about how we pick up on things without realizing it, and that is why we make snap decisions - often in the right direction.

He...
- answered Apr 29, 2010 at 06:44AM
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Can a 14 year old with the intellectual capacity of a 14 year old make their own medical decision? If so, in what circumstances?

In the province of Quebec, legal age for medical consent is 14. If you have a 15-year-old who is having blood tests, you as a parent cannot be told the results.

This was brought about be cause...
- answered Apr 28, 2010 at 06:41PM
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What is a "good death"?

As a former palliative care nurse, I believe I have witnessed many "good deaths."

The vast majority of my patients were dying of cancer. By the time the arrived in our facility, most had accepted...
- answered Apr 28, 2010 at 06:31PM
- 2 people found this answer useful
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