Ethical challenges are part of everyday ICU nursing — particularly when family views conflict with clinical decisions or cultural and religious beliefs influence patient management or end-of-life care. In this final session of the Critical Care Nursing Update Series, we’ll explore how to manage complex ethical situations, and support families during difficult decision-making about the care of their loved ones.
Critical care is a uniquely complex setting for ethical decision-making. Life-sustaining treatments, sudden deterioration, and unconscious patients mean decisions regularly need to be made on behalf of others - often under time pressures. Common dilemmas include:
continuing or withdrawing life sustaining treatment
disagreements between family members and treating teams
balancing resource allocation and patient needs
managing patients with no advance care directives or substitute decision maker
ICU nurses are a constant presence at the bedside. We advocate, interpret, witness suffering, and support families during some of the hardest decisions of their lives. Our bedside care includes a clinical, compassionate, and empathetic approach to ethical decision making. There is often conflict between decision-makers; nurses are commonly the go-between or advocates in these situations. These complexities will be discussed during the interactive case-based webinar focussing on:
The dilemma of continuing futile life-sustaining care in the ICU
Family conflict over withdrawal of care and treatment options
Cultural and religious considerations in ethical decisions
Communication breakdowns in ethically complex cases
This is a Medcast Continuing Medical Education (CME) course.
Live Webinar
26/06/2025 7:00 pm (Sydney time)
Australia/Sydney
Duration: 1 HR CPD
Educational Activities: 1 hours
Program Level Requirements: Culturally Safe Practice, Professionalism and Ethical Practice
Areas Of Interest: Critical Care, Patient safety
Nurses, Nurse Practitioners
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