A majority of patients and their family members are anxious about discussing end-of-life issues with their physician. Most of them expect their physician to initiate such dialogue. An appropriate End-of-life discussions must go beyond the DNR discussion and address the broad array of concerns shared by most dying patients and families: fears about dying, understanding prognosis, achieving important end-of-life goals, and attending to physical needs.
A good communication can facilitate the development of a comprehensive treatment plan that is medically sound and concordant with the patient's wishes and values. It also helps to achieve satisfaction for patient family and avoid any medico-legal consequences. Many times it has been found that physicians avoid discussing or clarifying end-of-life issues and that places the nurse, patients, and families in unnecessarily distressing…
