La sedación paliativa como lex artis en el cuidado del final de la vida

Abstract

All healthcare professionals are faced, at one time or another, with the need to attend patients during the final part of their lives. This can be a rather disconcerting experience owing to the general lack of resources and skills acquired in the course of their training. Science and medicine are often accused of prolonging death and therefore also prolonging suffering and anguish. The difficulty of treating patients who are dying resides in the fact that it imposes certain psychological demands that create inner conflict, which can only be understood and resolved through proper training and preparation. What would we need if we were in their place? It is essential provide guidelines to face end of life care. We must learn to convert ordinary events into meaningful experience. In this paper we think about needs of dying patients, refractory symptoms, palliative sedation and ethics problems, and promote the best end of life care.