Rights of Dying Patients

Terminally ill patients are often physically weak and, in some cases, unable to express their wishes regarding their care. It is imperative that medical staff and family members honor the unalienable rights of patients as they face their final days.

Decision Making

• The Dying Patient's Bill of Rights, as reported by the Learning Place Online, maintains that patients must be treated as living individuals with human rights until the moment of death. They must be given a say in all decisions made on their behalf, and they should not be pejoratively judged for their choices even if they are in contrast to others' opinions.

Information

• Information cannot be withheld from the patient, nor can the patient be deliberately deceived. As David Kessler noted in his article "The Rights of the Dying," all of a patient's questions must be answered fully and honestly. The patient also has the right to understand the process of death to a satisfactory degree.

Comfort

• The patient has the right to be free of pain and to receive the necessary medical treatment to ensure physical comfort. The patient also has the right to declare which persons can or cannot be present when the dying process begins to reduce stress and to ensure that the environment remains peaceful.

Respect for Wishes Expressed in a Living Will

• If the patient has a signed living will, the wishes expressed in it must be honored by both the medical staff and the patient's family whether or not they agree with the terms as stated. In the absence of a living will, the patient's designated health care proxy or immediate next-of-kin must act to ensure that the wishes of the patient are respected should the patient be unable to speak for himself.

Religious Wishes

• The patient has a right to receive spiritual counseling in his chosen faith throughout the dying process, as well as the right to express his wishes regarding the religious context of his funeral, burial or cremation.