Caring for the older patient, Part III: Ethical issues in gerontology

This is the third article of a four-part series on gerontology and its applications to the care of elderly patients in nuclear medicine. This article reviews some of the ethical issues that arise in caring for the elderly. Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (a) discuss the relationship between autonomy and competence; (b) differentiate between competence and decision-making capacity; (c) identify guidelines for determining decision-making capacity; (d) define ageism and provide examples of it; (e) describe the way American society views death and the issues this view raises for health care professionals; and (f) describe the grieving process.