NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- A New York medical ethicist examines ethical issues in end-of-life care and how doctors can offer compassionate palliative care to patients.
Dr. Joseph Fins' newly published book, "A Palliative Ethic of Care," identifies and examines barriers to effective palliative care that stem from both physicians and patients, revealing potential problems and solutions for everyone involved in the process.
Fins points out the highly charged Terry Schiavo case may have split the nation over physician-assisted suicide, but we remain united in our belief in palliative care and desire to improve it.
In the second part of the book, Fins offers a "Goal of Care Assessment Tool" as a sort of blueprint for doctors to work with patients and family members to develop appropriate goals at life's end.
Although the book was written for medical students, physicians, nurses and others who care for those with life-limiting illnesses would benefit from reading it as well, said a review in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Fins is director of medical ethics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
