Ethical issues in nutritional support nursing. Withholding and withdrawing nutritional support

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Medical Ethics
• End-of-Life Care

Background:

• The ethical permissibility of withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition is a contentious issue.
• Artificial nutrition is an invasive medical intervention with potential burdens and benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the ethical considerations surrounding specialized nutritional support for dying adult patients.
• To determine the conditions under which withholding or withdrawing nutrition may be acceptable.

Main Methods:

• Ethical analysis of artificial nutrition as a medical intervention.
• Review of bioethical principles applied to end-of-life care decisions.

Main Results:

• Withholding or withdrawing specialized nutritional support may be ethically justified for a very small subset of dying patients.
• The majority of dying patients will benefit from the continuation of artificial nutrition.

Conclusions:

• Decisions regarding artificial nutrition must be individualized, weighing burdens against benefits.
• Specialized nutritional support generally serves the best interests of most dying adult patients.