Critical Thinking Case Study: Health Care

Critical Thinking Case Study: Health Care

Overview

Andrew, a 68-year-old male, is admitted to a medical intensive-care unit after he experiences a life-threatening stroke. Andrew’s condition worsens rapidly and he is placed on life support, requiring specialized one-on-one nursing care. Unfortunately, Andrew has left nothing in the way of a will or advanced directives giving any type of explicit or otherwise implicit orders with which to resolve his current predicament. Andrew has only one living relative, his 29-year-old mentally retarded daughter Lydia. Lydia does understand to a certain degree the depth of what is happening to her father, and insists that everything possible be done to keep her father alive and possibly aid in his prospective recovery. Though Lydia does understand the brevity of the situation from a purely emotional perspective, Andrew is her legal guardian and Lydia is basically incapable of caring for herself outside of her dependence on him. While Ly...