Palliative Care Ethics: A Companion for All Specialties [Paperback]

Fiona Randall (Author), R. S. Downie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0192630687 | ISBN-13: 978-0192630681 | Edition: 2

Palliative care is a rapidly growing area within health care and one in which there are many ethical dilemmas. Chronically and terminally ill patients increasingly wish to take control of their own lives and deaths, resources are scarce and technology has created controversial life-prolonging treatment. This book has been written by a clinician and a teacher and writer of health care ethics to provide all those who care for the terminally ill - doctors, nurses, social workers, physiotherapists, clergy and other careers - with the concepts and principles to assist them in difficult decisions. A central theme, that technical expertise must be controlled by humane, non-technical judgments, runs through the challenging and thoughtful text. Palliative Care Ethics, in this second edition, is now more user- friendly and includes genuine case histories to illustrate ethical issues in the real world. The authors have expanded the section on rationing in response to the changing health care environment and confrontthe issues of patient rights to a far greater extent..There is also a new chapter covering terminally ill children. As the philosophy of palliation is increasingly recognised to be important from diagnosis, the coverage of more general cancer care ethics has been much increased. 'an excellent book' Palliative Medicine 'A thorough reference for practitioners of palliative care' toronto Medical Journal 'The authors tackle many delicate concerns with professional and human integrity' Journal of Medical Ethic

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a great resource for health-care teams, teachers of ethics, and general readers who are interested in ethical and philosophical issues. I rate it four stars out of five." Annals of the RCPSC (June 2000)

`'..the definitive palliative care ethics textbook....an excellent book helping to extend an understanding of ethics into everyday clinical practice.'' Dr Lynne Russon, Palliative Medicine

`' Overall, this book is a practical, easy-to-read introduction to the field of bioethics and will provide a good resource for any health care provider in the field of palliative care- whatever the speciality.'' Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal

About the Author

Fiona Randall is at Christchurch Hospital, Dorset. Robin Downie is at University of Glasgow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (August 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192630687
• ISBN-13: 978-0192630681
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,180,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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