Clinical Momentum as One Reason Dying Patients Are Underserved in Acute Care Settings

"Clinical momentum" refers to the curious expansion of interventions applied to patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) without pause or design, leading to extensions of care that can violate patient wishes and distress clinicians. In this article, clinical momentum is placed in a wider context that includes ritual, reimbursement patterns, and actor network theory. These contextual features help motivate understanding of one way in which dying patients are underserved in intensive care settings. Suggestions are made for clinician interaction with families under these circumstances.