Percutaneous gastrostomy tubes are routinely requested to be placed in patients by gastrointestinal staff. We are all familiar with the "hard" cases such as advanced dementia, severe co-morbidities, or when expected survival is considered minimal (wherein compliance with the request comes into question). Case law has even weighed in on this controversy with rulings regarding Karen Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, and Terri Shiavo. This presentation will address the dilemma of feeding tubes through a review of ethical principles, enumerating the myths surrounding PEG's, and appraising evidence-based practice. This presentation will include: patient examples, discussion of tube feeding "death spiral," withholding versus withdrawing treatment, case law, patient preference regarding feeding tubes, ethical issues, myths, review of evidence-based practice, survival with PEG tubes, patient comfort, religious issues, case review, and resolution of ethical dilemmas.

Section Description

We are pleased to present the abstracts from sgna's 36th annual course, SGNA: your gateway to opportunity. The diversity of these topics certainly reflects the richness and breadth of our specialty. in keeping with the tradition of the annual course, we hope the following abstracts will encourage discussions for improving nursing practice and patient care outcomes.