Being Mortal By Atul Gawande

This author’s personal perceptions concerning patients facing a lingering terminal illness, have been shaped by over 20 years of critical care nursing experience. Facing death and illness on a daily basis requires self-examination and a high degree of comfort with one’s own mortality, limits and values. Constant exposure to the fragility of life forces respect for the whole person and the people who love them. A general approach to patients who are actively dying is to allow them to define what they want and need during this time. The nurse’s role

In “ How Doctor Die,” Ken Murry explains the choice of doctors when they have a terminal illness. From the beginning, Ken gives an example of an orthopedist who was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He quit his job and spent the rest of his day with his family. A doctor is a person who treats disease and saves patients; however, when they have an illness, they are also like other patients. They meet difficult situations with their patients but also feel for them. They tend to be fair because they know about medicine and its limits. They do not want to die. Surely, each doctor has the preparation for death, and they want to find a way to die in peace. On the other hand, some patients try to find a method to overcome their illness although they have to bear pain. What I take from Murray’s essay is that patients have a right to chose how they die . Every one dies, eventually, but I agree with Murray that the choice needs to be an informed decision.

patients often think what will happen to them and how are they going to get through this horrible

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the individual as a whole but also an understanding of the

So, at one point or another, Gawande argues on both sides of the spectrum, explaining that either view is a possibility. However, for Gawande, his tone transitions from sarcastic and not really believing it himself to a much more serious tone. This change, occurring towards the end of the story, perhaps completely flip-flopped his opinion on it.

When we get older and when we deal with someone else who is nearing death we misunderstand what happens and how to understand the death process, we do not know what to expect and how to handle the process.

America is a nation built on the foundation of freedom and equality. Today, America is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, but also one of the most religiously dived. Eboo Patel, author of the novel Sacred Ground, is an activist for the integration of pluralism into American culture. Throughout the novel he expresses his ideas for more interfaith programs to broaden the knowledge of the younger generation with the hope of eliminating bigotry amongst various religions. Patel’s crucial message is that many people often misjudge or jump to conclusions, in this case about religions, which they don’t know much about. College is a place to break these barriers because it is a time for self-exploration and new ideas to be formed.

As mentioned in a Frontline interview with Gawande about Being Mortal, life’s two ‘unfixables’ are aging ang dying ("Dr. Atul Gawande On Aging, Dying And "Being Mortal"). Despite this well-known fact, most physicians and patients alike are overwhelmed by the concept of death. Moreover, in times of medical crisis, terminally ill patients allow themselves to be given “the medical equivalent of lottery tickets” in the hopes of making a miraculous recovery (Gawande 171). The allowance of end-of-life decisions to be controlled by the concepts of medicine or technology is a dangerous path which shows a lack in pragmatism regarding death (Sinclair). Although the overall avoidance of the

In Being Mortal, Atul Gawande painted a little depressing picture of the realities faced by the elderly in the US nowadays: declining health status, economic insecurity, and loss of independence. It seems once the older people move into nursing homes or assisted living facilities, they lose autonomy, dignity and privacy as the institutions are not able to fully individualize care. Even though the situation has been improving, it still shocks me to see how unhappy some of the elderly are in these circumstances. Realizing senior care facilities often fail to address all aspects of well-being, I would like to explore the issues of promoting both objective and subjective component in quality of care for the older people.

Thank you for the sharing of your personal experience. If I knew, the patient was dying, I would like to contact the patient’s loved one and allow them to have time say goodbye. Death is a process of life. We cannot avoid or run away from it. Therefore, ones need to learn the harmony of life. Grief is unavoidable during the death process. However, if we deal with it well, we can learn and obtain valuable experience on it. Life is sharing and love.

My biggest take away from the movie and our conversations in class is that it's best to be honest with your patients and open. Yes, the conversations about end of life are difficult discussions for everyone involved. However, it is unfair of a nurse or doctor withhold or postpone these tough talks on account that they are uncomfortable with facilitating the conversation.

In Being Mortal, Atul Gawande brings to revelation something we as humans know that will happen but in reality never really want to face: we are mortal and death will not escape us. Throughout the book, Gawande navigates the reader through a series of obstacles and choices faced to make when the ill and old have hit the stage of life when death is near. The New York Times reviewer Sheri Fink writes, “Being Mortal is a valuable contribution to the growing literature on aging, death and dying.” This book definitely helps readers come to terms with the reality of dying. Gawande finds balance between understanding what the elderly go through in the ending stages of their lives and having them face the reality of death, as well as how to spend the last days of life with dignity and on one’s own terms.

Imagine growing up in a town of fifteen thousand people and having a whole life in front of you. You go to college and eventually decide that you want to dedicate your life to medicine. At the age of thirty-six, you are on the verge of becoming a full-fledged neurosurgeon only to find out that you have cancer. Now, all your life projects become meaningless. Death becomes an impending reality that is inescapable. How does one come to terms with the fact that they will die? This is one of the questions that Dr. Paul Kalanithi tries to answer after receiving news that he has stage 4 lung cancer. In his book, When Breath Becomes Air, Paul transitions from his life as a neurosurgeon to that of a patient. Throughout the whole book, his reflection

(Schapira, 2010) It is important for patients to have all the facts in order to accept and prepare for death. Another area not always communicated well has to do with advance care planning. Many patients do not learn about options or talk about end of life issues until it is very late. Studies have shown that younger doctors are more likely to initiate conversations about end of life care options. (Pahwa, Babu & Bhatnagar, 2005)