Deck 13: Withdrawing Life Support and Organ Transplantation

Question 1

A patient who is mechanically breathing is using a(n)__________.

A) ventilator
B) IV
C) tuning fork
D) nebulizer

Answer 1

ventilator

Question 2

The dead donor rule shifted the definition of death from the cessation of heartbeat to __________.

A) clinical death
B) brain death
C) comatose patients
D) rigor mortis

Answer 2

brain death

Question 3

The Harvard Committee was convened to accomplish the important task of establishing __________.

A) a criteria for determining brain death
B) rules for when a person may receive an organ transplant
C) a process for legally declaring a patient as terminal
D) restrictions on the harvesting of organs from the dead

Answer 3

a criteria for determining brain death

Question 4

What do the United Kingdom and many other English-speaking countries use to determine brain death?

A) the whole brain criteria
B) the neocortical criteria
C) the brain stem criteria
D) the respiration criteria

Question 5

Neocortical death can occur in a healthy person as a result of the loss of blood supply and oxygen to the __________.

A) heart
B) lungs
C) brain
D) spinal cord

Question 6

Ischemia refers to __________.

A) the loss of blood supply to the brain
B) the loss of oxygen supply to the brain
C) too much fluid in the brain
D) the loss of fluids to the brain

Question 7

__________ occurs when the neocortex loses functioning over time.

A) Comatose
B) Persistent vegetative state
C) Locked-in syndrome
D) Dementia

Question 8

Transhumanism refers to the belief that __________.

A) it is unethical to remove body parts from one human to transplant them in another
B) technology will allow us to transcend the limitations of the human body
C) placing brain dead individuals into facilities can help maintain and extend their life
D) all humans have the right to life saving procedures

Question 9

To relieve the discomfort associated with the dying process, and perhaps even hasten it, some physicians use __________.

A) ventilation
B) terminal acceleration
C) terminal sedation
D) organ transplantation

Question 10

Another term for the avoidance of doing harm is __________.

A) nonmaleficence
B) autonomy
C) justice
D) terminal sedation

Question 11

The __________ requires hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, and HMOs that receive federal dollars to notify patients they have the right to give advance directives about future care.

A) beneficence
B) nonmaleficence
C) persistent vegetative state
D) patient self-determination act

Question 12

Medical futility is a term that has been applied to __________.

A) patients in a persistent vegetative state
B) the inability of comatose patients to speak
C) treatments that medical experts don't believe will benefit the patient
D) rulings by healthcare providers that restrict procedures

Question 13

Babies born without major portions of their brains or skulls are diagnosed as __________ and rarely survive more than a few days.

A) anencephalic
B) neocortical
C) maleficence
D) comatose

Question 14

Some patients experience __________ after being removed from life support. This results in the loss of water and salt in the body.

A) terminal starvation
B) terminal dehydration
C) delirium
D) vomiting

Question 15

Patients who cannot survive without assisted breathing are referred to as __________.

A) comatose
B) persistently vegetative
C) ventilator dependent
D) lethargic

Question 16

Terminal weaning refers to __________.

A) removing the drugs that manage pain during death
B) patients who slowly become better and no longer need oxygen through a ventilator
C) the removing of patients from hospitals to bring them home to die
D) the slow decreasing of oxygen and pressure from the breathing tube of the patient

Question 17

When a patient is hooked up to tubing for a ventilator it is referred to as __________.

A) intubation
B) extubation
C) ventilation
D) terminal weaning

Question 18

Oral or written instructions given by the patient before decision-making capacity is lost is the __________ for terminating life support.

A) substituted judgment standard
B) subjective standard
C) best interests standard
D) institutional standard

Question 19

The substituted judgment standard is a determination __________.

A) made by courts to decide whether or not to ending life support
B) illegally made by family members to end life support
C) of how cases should be handled for insurance purposes
D) made about patient care that is based on their known preferences and values

Question 20

The postbiological model describes __________.

A) being dead
B) transferring consciousness to a different platform than the human body
C) using machines to save a person's life
D) medicine being more technological than personal

Question 21

When a patient has cognitive function, but does not appear to be conscious because they are unable to move or communicate, they are experiencing __________.

A) locked-in syndrome
B) brain stem death
C) terminal dehydration
D) coma

Question 22

When the brain stem remains intact, but the neocortex is irreversibly damaged, a person is diagnosed to be __________.

A) terminal
B) on life support
C) in a coma
D) in a persistent vegetative state

Question 23

Hypoxia causes severe damage to the neocortex through a lack of __________ to the brain.

A) oxygen
B) blood flow
C) electrolytes
D) nutrition

Question 24

Explain the differences between partial brain and whole brain criteria for determining brain death. Why was this a medical issue that needed to be settled by authorities in the medical community and the government?

Question 25

How are neocortical death and brain stem death different? What influence do these differences have on the medical community in determining death?

Question 26

What is "transhumanism" and how has it changed medical science and the debate regarding the determination of death?

Question 27

What are the three agreed-on standards for terminating life support in the United States? How did the case of Nancy Cruzan influence these standards?

Question 28

What is the Patient Self-Determination Act and why is it important to understanding the rights of patients that are terminal due to illness or injury? Use some example cases from the chapter to demonstrate how this legislation is important.