3. Process of findings
Almost all the sources have indicated that there are little to no benefits of keeping a brain dead patient on ventilation. Taking a closer look into; brain dead criteria; organ donation; the cost of keeping a patient on life support and case studies on those who have been misdiagnosed it will be possible to draw an accurate conclusion on whether or not there are benefits of keeping a brain dead patient on life support.
3.1 Criteria for brain death
Brain death occurs when there is a loss of all brain and brain stem function due to damaged brain cells. It is often termed as an irreversible coma as the damaged cells cannot regenerate themselves and a patient is stuck in a coma-like state. (Wilson and Christensen, 2014)
The two brain scans show the contrast between a conscious patient and of a brain dead patient. The colourful or bright region in the normal conscious brain scan highlights areas which are active, preforming tasks such as, thinking, involuntary and voluntary movement. The image which shows brain death is completely black, suggesting no brain activity is taking place in comparison to a person with normal consciousness. The purple region around the brain represents the cerebral fluid around the brain.
The criteria or definition of brain death was re-examined in 1968 by a committee at Harvard Medical School and is part of the criteria used today. They defined it as when a patient; is unresponsive to stimulus; cannot move or breathe without the aid of a ventilator and has no brain stem reflexes. Several tests are done in order to determine if a patient meets these criteria and this can be done by physicians and neurologists. A brain dead patient is legally dead and a death cer...
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...deserve to be laid to rest. Retrieved 2014, from sundial.csun.edu: http://sundial.csun.edu/2014/01/brain-dead-patients-deserve-to-be-laid-to-rest/
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Wickline, S. (2014). A Brain-Dead Mother, a Million-Dollar Baby. Retrieved 2014, from medpagetoday.com: http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/43736
Kemp, Joe. “Fetus of pregnant, brain-dead Texas woman ‘distinctly abnormal’: lawyers.” NYDailyNews. New York Daily News. 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
Jahi McMath is a 13-year-old girl living in Oakland, CA who was declared brain dead by multiple neurologists more than three months ago. Jahi was declared brain-dead December 12th after barriers during surgery a few days earlier to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and uvula at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. At least three neurologists confirmed that Jahi was unable to breathe on her own, had no blood flow to her brain, and had no sign of electrical activity in her brain. Moreover, a court order kept Jahi's body on a ventilator while independent experts could be brought in to confirm the results (Wells, 2014). Even so, the McMath family was able to secure the release of Jahi's body through the county coroner, who issued a death certificate, and have been keeping her on a ventilator at an undisclosed facility ever since. This all occurred after Children’s Hospital released Jahi due to her severe brain damage along with the probability of the hospital receiving profit from discharging Jahi before her or her family were ready for her to be released (Johnson and Rhodes, 2010, p. 61).
The decision to be able to prolong life has been one of the most controversial topic for years now. Many people believe that life support isn’t benefiting the person just only making the person live longer and others believe that it’s a chance the patients can come off life support breathing on their own which there has been many cases where patients have awakened from life support. In this exploratory essay I will talk about the 3 article that embodied their opinion about life support. In the first article Berger position on the issue is that he is against Dying patients being kept on life support because he believes once the person is critically ill which some call it brain dead there’s no coming back from
The pathological processes that develop following brain injury inevitably lead to neuronal death, which can be immediate or delayed. Blood brain barrier disruption, resulting in neuronal loss, might also influence the long-term traumatic brain injury complications which are characterized by neuronal death.[66, 67]
Based upon previous knowledge of brain function, what results from the testing were consistent with a brain injury?
This can be seen in the case study as ethical and legal arise in resuscitation settings, as every situation will have its differences it is essential that the paramedic has knowledge in the areas of health ethics and laws relating to providing health care. The laws can be interpreted differently and direction by state guidelines may be required. Paramedics face ethical decisions that they will be required to interpret themselves and act in a way that they believe is right. Obstacles arise such as families’ wishes for the patients’ outcome, communicating with the key stakeholders is imperative in making informed and good health practice decision. It could be argued that the paramedics in the case study acted in the best interest of the patient as there was no formal directive and they did not have enough information regarding the patients’ wishes in relation to the current situation. More consultation with the key stakeholders may have provided a better approach in reducing the stress and understanding of why the resuscitation was happening. Overall, ethically it could be argued that commencing resuscitation and terminating once appropriate information was available is the right thing to do for the
As previously stated, neuroimaging science and study began in the early 1900s. The “great granddaddy” of functional brain viewing is electroencephalography, or EEG, and was invented by a German researcher by the name of Hans Berger. This exceptional neurologist discovered that the electrical activity of the brain is detectable outside the head. Following Berger’s steps, a group of scientists came up with ...
Mohr, M., & Kettler, D. (1997). Ethical aspects of resuscitation. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 253.
Since the brain is extremely fragile and difficult to access without risking further damage, imaging techniques are used frequently as a noninvasive method of visualizing the brain’s structure and activity. Today's technology provides many useful tools for studying the brain. But even with our highest technology out there we do not know everything definitely. We do have fallbacks at times and these fallbacks can lead to serious problems.
The subject of death and dying is a common occurrence in the health care field. There are many factors involved in the care of a dying patient and various phases the patient, loved ones and even the healthcare professional may go through. There are many controversies in health care related to death, however much of it roots from peoples’ attitudes towards it. Everyone handles death differently; each person has a right to their own opinions and coping mechanisms. Health care professionals are very important during death related situations; as they are a great source of support for a patient and their loved ones. It is essential that health care professionals give ethical, legal and honest care to their patients, regardless of the situation.
Our brain itself is an intricate organ, it consists of many parts but the purpose of this research is to learn more about the unconscious mind.
President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.
Life support is an issue that is very controversial, people on both side have strong opinions. Life support is the treatment and technique that is usually performed in a critical care, in order to support life after a failure of one or more vital organs. Life support is used temporarily until the illness or the disease is stabilized and body can function normally on its own. I strongly disagree the use of life support in brain dead patients. I against life support with brain dead patients, because of the prolonging pain and suffering. I know it is hard to see a love one’s go, but life support is not the right decision. When people talk about life support, they basically mean ventilation.
“About 83% considered euthanasia as an option for themselves if terminally ill and in pain or having other physical problems” (Roelands & Van den Block, Geurts, Deliens, Cohen, 2015 p 143). With the wish to hasten death, individuals experience “loss of bodily functions, control, and meaning of life the wish to hasten death as a way of putting an end to suffering and regaining some control over one’s life” (Monforte-Roys, Sales, & Balaguer 2015, p 1). By the same token, Fieser (2015, p 3) discusses the “two death theory” which explains the fact that the body goes through two deaths. The first death is the death of the brain leaving the individual in a persistent vegetative state. In addition to the first death, the body goes through a second death, the death of the actual body. Ho and Chantagul (2015, p 255) concluded, those patients who exist in a persistent vegetative state and kept alive by artificial means and those patients while conscious, are incapacitated and in pain, confined to bed and kept alive by artificial means for weeks, months, and years. The life-ending process has been delayed due to pain and suffering of an individual. While the individual has the right to choose when they die, they also have the right to discontinue