Allowing the Debilitated to Die
- 24 March 1983
- journal article
- Published by Massachusetts Medical Society in New England Journal of Medicine
- Vol. 308 (12) , 716-719
- https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm198303243081210
Abstract
The phone wakes me; it is 3 a.m."Hello, Dr. Hilfiker? This is Ginger at the nursing home. Mrs. Toivonen has a fever."Despite my tiredness my mind is immediately clear. Elsa Toivonen, 83 years old. Confined to the nursing home ever since her stroke three years ago. Bedridden. Aphasic. In an instant I remember her as she was before the stroke: her dislike and distrust of doctors and hospitals, her staunch pride and independence despite her severe scoliosis, her wry grin every time I suggested hospitalization for some problem. I remember admitting her to the hospital after her stroke, . . .Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Nontreatment of Fever in Extended-Care FacilitiesNew England Journal of Medicine, 1979