Palliative and End-of-Life Ethical Dilemmas in the Intensive Care Unit.

Critical care nurses and advanced practice registered nurses frequently face bioethical dilemmas in clinical practice that are related to palliative and end-of-life care. Many of these dilemmas are associated with decisions made concerning continuing, limiting, or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments. The purpose of this article is to describe common ethical challenges through case study presentations and discuss approaches that critical care nurses and advanced practice registered nurses in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team can use to address these challenges. Resources that may be helpful in managing ethical dilemmas are identified.