Week 7 DQ1

Explore the issues of how to determine if a patient is mentally competent to make his or her own decisions, especially in situations where the decisions do not appear to make sense.

Week 7 DQ2

What are the differences between a permanent vegetative state and a coma? How do these differences affect the ethical choices faced by the family and caregivers of the patient? What importance should the patient’s own wishes have? How would the presence of a living will affect the decision?