Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level

In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die.

Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical careâ€”to become an ICU physicianâ€”and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. ButÂ then duringÂ her first codeÂ she found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and frail it was unimaginable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice.

Extreme MeasuresÂ chartsÂ Zitterâ€™sÂ journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming anotherâ€”a doctor who prioritizes the patientâ€™s values and preferences in an environment where the defaultÂ choice is the extremeÂ use of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she termsÂ the End-of-LifeÂ Â Conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities toÂ sufferÂ their final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself:Â the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patientsâ€™ pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully.

Filled with rich patient stories that makeÂ aÂ compelling medical narrative,Â Extreme MeasuresÂ enlarges the national conversation as it thoughtfully and compassionately examines an experience that defines being human.
Country USA
Manufacturer Avery
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2017-02-21
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Avery
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2017-02-21
Format	Kindle eBook

Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

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