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Caring for children in vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) challenges parents and impacts on their well-being. This study aims to evaluate caregivers’ health condition, coping, anxiety and depression levels, and how these issues relate to children’s disability. 35 children with VS and MCS were administered the disability rating scale (DRS) and 35 caregivers completed the Coping Orientations to Problem Experiences, Short Form-12, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y. Children were mainly males (68.6%), hosted at domicile (77.1%), and diagnosed with VS (60%), with anoxic aetiology (45.7%). Caregivers were mainly mothers (85.7%), married (82.9%), and housewives (51.4%); 60% declared financial difficulties, and 82.9% provided full-time assistance. 57.2% reported depressive symptoms, poor mental health, and high level of state and trait anxiety. “Problem-oriented” (P<0.001) and “emotional-oriented” (P<0.001), were more adopted than “potentially dysfunctional” ones. DRS scores (mean = 22.0; SD = 1.9) did not significantly correlate to any psychological measure. Rehabilitative programs for children with SV and SMC should also provide interventions on surrounding systems: improving the network of psychological support and social assistance may decrease the burden of caregivers and, in turn, improve caring abilities and children quality of life.

A case study of an ethical dilemma concerning twin nine-year-old sisters in a persistent vegetative state is presented. This is illustrated by the use of a systematic ethical framework to examine the case and the resolution, which was ultimately obtained with nurse—parent interrelations, using the human becoming nursing theory.

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Adolescents and their families are sometimes touched by circumstances that force them to have to make difficult \"end-of-life\" decisions. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports giving children a voice in their health care decision-making, but how teens want to be involved in this is not known. The purpose of this study was to explore if adolescents were interested in and comfortable with advance directives (ADs) discussions. Teens between 15 and 18 years of age (N = 107) participated in this interview study. Results of the study yielded a wide range of information about adolescents and ADs. Participants were able to pass a test used for demonstrating decision-making competency. They were willing to answer questions related to their own health care treatments as they envisioned themselves in a coma, and those responses are similar to those reported for adults. The vast majority of participants felt it was \"somewhat important\" or \"very important\" for someone their age to have a living will. Most of the adolescent participants did not report feeling uncomfortable discussing these issues.

Care of patients in a persistent vegetative state raises serious ethical questions. Often misdiagnosed, this “new disease,” which is the result of advancing medical technology, raises such serious issues as the definition of death, nursesʼ personal ethical and religious convictions, and the ethical integrity of the nursing profession. Conscience clauses that allow nurses to refuse to cause death in non-dying patients vary widely, but few, if any, address the situation of incompetent but non-dying patients.

BackgroundThe vegetative state, also known as the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, is one of the worst possible outcomes of acquired brain injury and confronts rehabilitation specialists with various challenges. Emergence to (minimal) consciousness is classically considered unlikely beyond 3–6 months after non-traumatic or 12 months after traumatic etiologies. A growing body of evidence suggests that these timeframes are too narrow, but evidence regarding chances of recovery is still limited.ObjectiveTo identify the moment of recovery of consciousness in documented cases of late emergence from a vegetative state.MethodsFour cases of apparent late recovery of consciousness, identified within a prospective cohort study, were studied in-depth by analyzing medical, paramedical and nursing files and interviewing the patients’ families about their account of the process of recovery.ResultsAll patients were found to have shown signs of consciousness well within the expected time frame (5 weeks–2 months post-ictus). These behaviors, however, went unnoticed or were misinterpreted, leading to a diagnostic delay of several months to over 5 years. Absence of appropriate diagnostics, the use of erroneous terminology, sedative medication but also patient-related factors such as hydrocephalus, language barriers and performance fluctuations are hypothesized to have contributed to the delay.ConclusionsDelayed recognition of signs of consciousness in patients in a vegetative state may not only lead to suboptimal clinical care, but also to distorted prognostic figures. Discriminating late recovery from the delayed discovery of consciousness, therefore, is vital to both clinical practice and science.

The case of Terri Schiavo, a young woman who spent 15 years in a persistent vegetative state, has emerged as a watershed in debates over end-of-life care. While many observers had thought the right to refuse medical treatment was well established, this case split a family, divided a nation, and counfounded physicians, legislators, and many of the people they treated or represented. In renewing debates over the importance of advance directives, the appropriate role of artificial hydration and nutrition, and the responsibilities of family members, the case also became one of history's most extensively litigated health care disputes. The Case of Terri Schiavo assembles a team of first-hand participants and content experts to provide thoughtful and nuanced analyses. In addition to a comprehensive overview, the book includes contributions by Ms. Schiavo's guardian ad litem, a neurologist and lawyer who participated in the case, and scholars who examine issues related to litigation, faith, gender, and disability. The volume also includes a powerful dissent from the views of many scholars in the bioethics community. The book is intended for students, health care professionals, policy makers, and other in search of carefully reasoned analyses of the case that will shape our view of death and end-of-life medical care for decades.