Sunday, September 11, 2011

Helping a Patient become Autonomous

An elderly man is resuscitated following a witnessed arrest in the community. He is now confused and at times agitated and thus cannot make an informed decision. The standard of care would be to perform a cardiac catheter, however, the patient has stated that he doubts if he would be reliable in taking routine medications if a heart stint is placed. He is described as a "loner" and none of his family is responding to phone messages. His case team would like to release him from the hospital after inserting a cath. What can they do to make sure that he is taken care of?

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