An intensive care patient, terminally ill, chooses to die at home
In the past, most deaths took place at home. There has recently been a lot of interest in providing patients and their families with a “good death”,1 and research has shown that if a choice was given to terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), they would prefer to die at home.2 Much of the palliative care literature is about providing care for a terminally ill patient in the patient’s home. However, little information is available on taking a critically ill patient home to die.
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- 12. Cicely Saunders Institute. Palliative care outcome scale. http://www.csi.kcl.ac.uk/pos.html (accessed Jul 2012).
We are very thankful to the patient’s family for their generosity in allowing us to share this important story with our colleagues.
No relevant disclosures.