Does it mean that the family and staff want to get rid of the patient when a patient chooses to stop dialysis?
A. The short answer again is “No.” Dialysis staff are like most health care providers: they want to treat people to help them to live productive, happy lives free of pain and suffering. Usually when a patient asks to stop dialysis, extensive discussions are held between the patient, his or her loved ones, and members of the dialysis staff to understand why the patient is choosing to stop dialysis. As part of these discussions, the dialysis staff will strive to identify and treat any of the possible symptoms that are contributing to the patient’s poor quality of life before simply stopping dialysis. Unfortunately, for some patients, the burdens of their illnesses and the need for dialysis at some point becomes overwhelming and causes more suffering than benefits. If this is the case and no treatments are likely to improve the patient’s quality of life, the decision to stop dialysis may be made. In these cases, the dialysis staff is often saddened by the decision to stop dialysis but the
