Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · May 2008
Comparative StudyEnd of life in the intensive care unit: knowledge and practice of clinicians from Karachi, Pakistan.
With improvements in the care of critically ill, physicians are faced with obligations to provide quality end-of-life care. Barriers to this include inadequate understanding of the dying patient and withdrawal or limitation of care. The objectives of this study were to document the comprehensions of physicians and nurses regarding the recognition and practice of end-of-life care for critically ill patients placed on life support in the intensive care unit. ⋯ There are confusions in the definition of brain death, end-of-life recognition and indications and processes of withdrawal of life support. There are discrepancies between physicians' and nurses' perceptions and attitudes. Clearly, teaching programmes will need to incorporate cultural and religious differences in their ethics curricula.