How to Approach End-of-Life Care Discussions, Determine Treatment Goals for Patients Near Death in the Emergency Department

Abstract

There is strong evidence to suggest that physicians have poor training in end-of-life (EOL) care discussions and that, even when they do occur, the quality of the discussions is generally poor. Complicating the situation further is that patients and their families do not always absorb medical information communicated to them when patients are acutely ill