The Experience of End-of-Life Decision-Making for a Certain Transplant Population

There is limited information about the experience of family surrogate decision-makers who choose to withdraw life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) from an individual, and nothing is published about this experience in the blood and marrow transplant (BMT) population. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of surrogates who have participated in the decision-making process of withdrawing LST from a BMT patient.

The results of this study will inform nurses and other health care team members about the experience of surrogates who chose to withdraw LST from a BMT patient. Future studies will use this understanding to develop and test interventions for health care providers aimed at decreasing the burden of surrogate decision makers. This will promote a peaceful experience for these families and patients and decrease the professional burden of health care providers, who currently do not have evidence-based guidelines for these patient/family situations.