End-of-Life Planning for Surgical Patients Is Explored

Modern medicine can pull individuals who once would have fatal diseases or injuries back from the brink to stable, but sometimes unrecoverable, condition. As noted by the A Look at The Joint Commission report in the October Bulletin, this can leave patients and surgeons in a complicated position where legal decision-making for end-of-life care is needed.

In the report, author Lenworth M. Jacobs Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, describes the role of a conservator and barriers to a decision-maker fully understanding the gravity of the situation.

And, importantly for surgeons when a catastrophic event occurs in the surgical domain, he reviews some potential communication tips and strategies that may be of use in communicating with a patient’s family or legal representative. 

Providing perspective from his career, Dr. Jacobs says, “In my experience as a trauma surgeon, one has about 7 to 10 seconds to make an introduction, establish trust, and begin the explanation of the problem… The use of polysyllabic medical terminology is not helpful and is rarely understood. It is far better to use simple, clear language and be completely truthful about the potential outcome of the catastrophic situation.”

Read the article, and read a February 2023 Bulletin feature article for additional perspective on difficult conversations with surgical patients and families.