• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.140-146
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• 2008

Purpose: Sooner of later, end-of-life care decision-making will unfold and be settled during the professional lives of medical students. However, there is prevalent ambiguity and uncertainty between the palliative treatment and euthanasia. We conducted this survey to investigate attitudes of medical students towards end-of-life making decisions, and to find out which factors primarily influenced the attitudes. Methods: A study was conducted among medical students at one university, the Republic of Korea. A written questionnaire was sent to all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year medical students. It presented 5 statements on end-of-life decision-making. Students were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with each statement. Results: The response rate was 74.4%, and 267 questionnaires were analyzed. Percentages of agreement with each statements on Voluntary active euthanasia (VAE), Physician assisted suicide (PAS), Withholding life-sustaining management, Withdrawing life-sustaining management, and Terminal sedation (TS) was 37.1%, 21.7%, 58.4%, 60.3%, and 41.6%, respectively. The grade of students, religious activity, and educational experience were determinant factors. Agreement on each statements was higher in the low religious activity group than in the high religious activity group. Agreement on TS was higher among 3rd year students during their clerkship than among 1st and 2nd year students. Age of students and the experience of dying-people care had no significant influence. Conclusion: In end-of-life decision-making, religious and educational factors influenced medical students' attitudes. Especially, the experience of education during clerkship had significant influence on the attitude. Proper teaching on end-of-life decisions should further be considered during medical students' clerkship.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.147-154
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand family members' experience of deciding to withdraw life-sustaining treatments for terminally-ill patients in an unconscious state. Methods: Data were collected by performing an in-depth interview with eight terminally-ill patients' family members who decided to withdraw life-sustaining treatments. Colaizzi's phenomenological method was used for data analysis. Results: Questions were classified into 12 groups and finally into five categories. The five categories were about family members' frustration with patient's condition, emotional preparation for the patient's death upon medical professionals' recommendation, patient's wishes, exhaustion due to caring and past experiences related to life-sustaining treatment. Conclusion: Using the five categories, hospice and palliative professionals could better understand family members' decision making experience of withdrawing life-sustaining treatments for terminally-ill patients. Based on that, the family members could be provided with appropriate counseling and care, which in turn could improve hospice and palliative care intervention.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.106-110
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• 2008

Palliative sedation has been used in patients who undergo intractable suffering at the end of life. Its implementation, however, may be complicated due to resistance of clinicians and barrier of bioethical issues. Here, we present 50-year-old man with stomach cancer and multiple bone metastasis who was treated with palliative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He suffered from refractory pain on the whole body even after standard analgesics and multidisplinary effort to relieve. Upon shared decision for sedation, he was given midazolam until discharge. Literature reviews reveal cases similar to the present case.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.278-288
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze types of shared medical decision making by health professionals in a decision making position. Methods: The Q-methodology was used. Q sample was constructed with a total of 35 Q-statements that were offered with a 9-point rating scale. The statements were structured to generate answers that would form a shape of a normal distribution. Answers to Q sample were analyzed using a QUANL PC program. Results: Four types of shared medical decision making were identified. Type I is patient-centered decision making, Type II is physician-centered, Type III is health professional-centered and Type IV is patient-family-centered. Conclusion: Study results indicate that it is recommended to develop an education program based on the four types of shared medical decision making so that health professionals can be provided with different approaches according to their decision making style.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.257-279
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• 2016

Recently, the Well-dying Act was legislated in Korea, and it will come into effect in August 4, 2017. This Act allows to withdraw the life sustaining treatment from impending death patients and also provide the hospice and palliative treatment to terminal patients. In the Supreme Court's case so called "Madam Kim", medical condition of Madam Kim was a persistent vegetative status owing to brain damage and her family members wanted to remove the artificial ventilation. In 2009, the Supreme Court allowed to withdraw the artificial ventilation under the specific conditions. We applied this new Well-dying Act to the Madam Kim's case hypothetically in order to know this Act can reasonably solve the problem of life sustaining treatment for dying or terminal patients. For the impending patients, the Well-dying Act has the problem not to withdraw the futile treatment due to the advance directives of patients. Vice versa, the terminal patients have no chance to withdraw the life sustaining treatment due to the this Act impose the duty to provide the hospice and palliative treatment despite of advance directives. We need to ruke out the persistent vegetative patients from the terminal patients caused by the cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, chronic obstructive lung disease and chronic liver cirrhosis, In addition, we have to discuss the effect of the advance directives of terminal patients in view of self determination right.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.43-47
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• 2007

Decision-making of antibiotics use in infected patients with terminal stage of cancer was difficult for physicians, because of responsibility of solving a medical problem and burden on patients distressed by worthless life expansion. Korean Family Medicine Palliative Medicine Research Group discussed this subject using a case of a 65 year-old male having terminal stage of sigmoid colon cancer with extended cutaneous infection who was treated local antibiotics, improved but expired at the 12th hospital day. We reviewed related literatures and proposed a guide for antibiotics use in inferred patients with terminal stage of cancer. Antibiotics should be used for symptom control as major indication, especially when patients suffered from urinary symptoms. Appropriate antibiotics should be chosen based or sensitivity test. the most important considering factor should be patient and family members' wish about antibiotics use.

• The Science & Technology
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• 제31권2호통권345호
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• pp.67-71
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• 1998

1990년 9월 프렌치 엔더슨(현 남가주대학 유전자치료센터 소장)과 2명의 동료들이 미 연방정부의 승인을 받고 처음으로 유전자를 이용하여 중증 종합면역결핍증(SCID)을 앓고 있던 아샨티 데실비양을 치료한 이래 유전자치료에 대한 관심은 전세계적으로 번져 나가 현재 2천5백명 이상의 환자들이 이런 요법의 임상실험을 받고 있다. 우리나라에서도 1995년 서울대병원을 시작으로 1996년에는 중앙대병원과 삼성서울병원에서 말기 암환자를 대상으로 유전자치료 임상시험을 하고 있다. 그런데 열성적인 일부 연구자들과 업계대표들 그리고 매체들의 유전자치료의 '장미빛 미래'를 지나치게 강조한 나머지 일반인에게 유전자치료가 이미 광범위한 응용단계로 들어갈 정도로 발전한 것 같은 인상을 주고 있다. 그러나 전세계를 통틀어 유전자치료를 받거나 받고 있는 환자중에서 결정적으로 완쾌된 환자는 아직도 거의 없다는 것이 오늘의 현실이다. 유전자치료의 현황과 그 앞날을 알아본다.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.20-26
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• 2009

Purpose: We undertook this study to find out the recognitions of terminal cancer patients and doctors about advance directives (ADs), of how they would do in non-response medical conditions and whether ADs could be one of medical options for their dying with dignity. Methods: One hundred thirty four cancer patients in the Hospice Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, and 97 medical doctors in the Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic Medical Center, were asked about ADs, including Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR), medical power of attorney, living will and medical options. Results: One hundred thirty patients (97%) and 38 doctors (39.2%) were unfamiliar with ADs, however, 128 patients (95.5%), 95 doctors (97.9%) agreed with it. Seventy nine patients (59.0%) and 96 doctors (99.0%) wanted DNR rather then intensive treatments if they were in non-response medical conditions. Eighty four patients (62.7%) and 75 doctors (77.3%) were agreeable to medical power of attorney. One hundred Thirty four patients (100.0%) and 94 doctors (96.9%) did not want medical options to be in terminal conditions, and hoped to die in peace. Conclusion: Most of patients did not know about ADs and how to make it. However, they showed positive attitudes about it. If we advertise it properly, it is highly likely that a large number of cancer patients would make their living wills easily by ADs. Nevertheless, many legal and ethical problems have to be solved. Doctors should engage their patients in an ongoing communication about the end-of-life. Therefore, let the patients have opportunities to plan their own deaths.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.232-237
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• 2004

Purpose: DNR order is generally accepted for cancer patients near the end of life at Hospice Ward. It means not only no CPR when cardiopulmonary arrest develops but no aggressive meaningless medical interventions. Usually on admission, we discuss with the patients' family about DNR order at the Hospice Ward. Recently, we experienced a terminal lung cancer patient who had been on the ventilator for two months after pulmonary arrest. CPR and artificial ventilation were performed because patient's family refused DNR order. There is no consensus when, who, and how DNR order could be written for terminal cancer patients in Korea, yet. Methods: Hospice charts of 60 patients who admitted between Jan and Jun 2003 to Hospice Ward were reviewed retrospectively. Results: The median age was 66(range $31{\sim}93$) and there were 31 males and 29 females. Their underlying cancers were lung (12), stomach (12), biliary tract (7), colon (6), pancreas (4) and others (19). The persons who signed DNR order were son (22), spouse(19), daughter (16) and others (3). But, there was no patients who signed DNR order by oneself. Thirty families of 60 patients signed on day of admission and 30 signed during hospitalization when there were symptom aggravation (19), vital sign change (4), organ failure (3) and others (4). There were 13 patients who died within 5 days after DNR order. Most of patients died at our hospice ward, except in 1 patient. The level of care was mostly 1, except in 2 patients. (We set level of care as 3 categories. Level 1 is general medical care: 2 is general nursing care: 3 is terminal care.) Conclusion: We have to consider carefully discussing DNR order with terminal cancer patients in the future & values on withholding futile intervention.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• 제11권12호
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• pp.439-449
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• 2020

This study aimed to identify factors influencing the preferences for end-of-life (EOL) care among undergraduate nursing students. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from December 2017 to February 2018. This study included 217 undergraduate nursing students. Factors influencing the preference for 'autonomous physiological decision-making' were the following: education level(by grade), having biomedical education, attitude towards death, and attitude towards life-sustaining treatments (LSTs). Preference for 'decision-making by healthcare professionals' was related to having a religion. Factors influencing the preference for 'spirituality' were education level, having a religion, and academic major satisfaction. Preference for 'pain control' was associated with education level, experience with dying patients, bad self-rated health, attitude towards death, and attitude towards LSTs. The study findings suggest that education regarding LSTs, EOL care, and EOL decision-making in nursing curricula is essential.