How do you feel about the use of life-sustaining measures in the face of terminal illness?

Life-Sustaining Measures Ticket to class: The threaded discussions will provide the student with the opportunity to explore different topics, share what he/she is learning with classmates, and gain clarity about the content. This assignment reflects student-centered, independent learning. The students will:

• Apply critical thinking through participation of selected topics • Engage in thoughtful discourse with peers

• Incorporate topic discussion into clinical judgment and decision making within practice setting Guidelines:

• For each posted discussion question, the student is expected to: • Post an answer to the discussion question at least 24 hours before the discussion due date

• The original posts must be at least 200 words in length (100+ words for each question) • Discussion responses should demonstrate critical thinking skills and be thoughtful and respectful

• Post two responses to the original posts of any other classmates (50+ words for each response)

• Posting should ask for clarification, challenge (respectfully) ideas, or describe a situation that illustrates the points being made. Simply agreeing or disagreeing with a post is not adequate

1. How do you feel about the use of life-sustaining measures in the face of terminal illness? Examples: Permanent coma? Irreversible chronic illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease? Debilitating Stroke?

2. How do you feel about particular medical procedures? Examples: mechanical breathing (respirator), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), artificial nutrition and hydration, hospital intensive care, pain relief medication, chemo or radiation therapy, and surgery.