<p>Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to deepen the understanding of nursing care for seriously ill patients on the edge of life in intensive care unit (ICU) and nursing home when questions were raised whether to withhold or withdraw curative treatment. Method: All studies were conducted in a qualitative frame of reference with interviews of nurses in two contexts in Norway; group interviews of 14 nurses in an ICU (study I, III), and individual interviews of 14 nurses in two nursing homes (study II, IV). Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenology (I, III, IV) and phenomenography (II). Findings: The nurses’ descriptions of the patients on the edge of life were interpreted as ‘being in a twilight zone’, a state between living and dying. The patients’ situation were understood to be very burdensome as they were mostly ‘voiceless’ and unable to call for, or refuse help and totally surrendered to other people’s devices. Their state was strained by extensive suffering; pains and bodily afflictions, loneliness, confusion and without control and dignity (I). Their need for nursing care was comprehensive (I, II) with an overall need for dignity (II), which included having the needs for preparedness, human relationship, comfort and safety met (II). The patients’ inabilities to express themselves clearly involved major challenges for nursing care (I - IV). Good nursing care was described as caring for the individual patient based on his/her situation and needs. The nurses experienced themselves to be of imperative importance for the patient’s living or dying (III, IV) and their interpretation of the patient’s condition was crucial (III). Their commitment and drive to help was high, they knew what good nursing care was for the patients (I - IV), and they were proud when they succeeded in their care (III, IV). An outstanding finding was the nurses’ experiences of ambiguity of both certainty and uncertainty. Being certain mostly seemed to concern nursing care related to the patient’s needs and situation (I, II), and uncertainty to what was ‘right’ to do with regards to withholding or withdrawing treatment (III, IV). They often experienced loneliness, too much responsibility, a vulnerable professional pride, and being pulled between opposite poles when they struggled to give good nursing care (I - IV), but too often they failed (II, IV). This demanding situation sometimes led to the nurses’ use of several self-protecting strategies. Whether the patients could receive good nursing care or not did not only depend on the single nurse, but was also anchored in opportunities and hindrances on a relational and an organisational level (I – IV). There were many congruities in patterns in the experiences of ICU - and nursing - home - nurses with regards to the situation and needs of patients on the edge of life, and good nursing care. Congruities were also found regarding being a nurse when caring for these patients, and nurses’ opportunities and hindrances for carrying out good nursing care. Conclusion: This thesis shows that nursing care was experienced as being of crucial importance to the patients on the edge of life, and the nurses knew very well what good nursing care was for them. However, the nurses’ opportunities to perform good nursing care depended on several preconditions and were restricted by hindrances on different levels, which have to be overcome in order to fulfil patients’ needs and nurses’ ambitions of giving good nursing care. As such, this thesis highlights a wide-ranging understanding of nursing care for these patients, which should challenge individual nurses, but also other health care workers, leaders and politicians.</p>

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to deepen the understanding of nursing care for seriously ill patients on the edge of life in intensive care unit (ICU) and nursing home when questions were raised whether to withhold or withdraw curative treatment. Method: All studies were conducted in a qualitative frame of reference with interviews of nurses in two contexts in Norway; group interviews of 14 nurses in an ICU (study I, III), and individual interviews of 14 nurses in two nursing homes (study II, IV). Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenology (I, III, IV) and phenomenography (II). Findings: The nurses’ descriptions of the patients on the edge of life were interpreted as ‘being in a twilight zone’, a state between living and dying. The patients’ situation were understood to be very burdensome as they were mostly ‘voiceless’ and unable to call for, or refuse help and totally surrendered to other people’s devices. Their state was strained by extensive suffering; pains and bodily afflictions, loneliness, confusion and without control and dignity (I). Their need for nursing care was comprehensive (I, II) with an overall need for dignity (II), which included having the needs for preparedness, human relationship, comfort and safety met (II). The patients’ inabilities to express themselves clearly involved major challenges for nursing care (I - IV). Good nursing care was described as caring for the individual patient based on his/her situation and needs. The nurses experienced themselves to be of imperative importance for the patient’s living or dying (III, IV) and their interpretation of the patient’s condition was crucial (III). Their commitment and drive to help was high, they knew what good nursing care was for the patients (I - IV), and they were proud when they succeeded in their care (III, IV). An outstanding finding was the nurses’ experiences of ambiguity of both certainty and uncertainty. Being certain mostly seemed to concern nursing care related to the patient’s needs and situation (I, II), and uncertainty to what was ‘right’ to do with regards to withholding or withdrawing treatment (III, IV). They often experienced loneliness, too much responsibility, a vulnerable professional pride, and being pulled between opposite poles when they struggled to give good nursing care (I - IV), but too often they failed (II, IV). This demanding situation sometimes led to the nurses’ use of several self-protecting strategies. Whether the patients could receive good nursing care or not did not only depend on the single nurse, but was also anchored in opportunities and hindrances on a relational and an organisational level (I – IV). There were many congruities in patterns in the experiences of ICU - and nursing - home - nurses with regards to the situation and needs of patients on the edge of life, and good nursing care. Congruities were also found regarding being a nurse when caring for these patients, and nurses’ opportunities and hindrances for carrying out good nursing care. Conclusion: This thesis shows that nursing care was experienced as being of crucial importance to the patients on the edge of life, and the nurses knew very well what good nursing care was for them. However, the nurses’ opportunities to perform good nursing care depended on several preconditions and were restricted by hindrances on different levels, which have to be overcome in order to fulfil patients’ needs and nurses’ ambitions of giving good nursing care. As such, this thesis highlights a wide-ranging understanding of nursing care for these patients, which should challenge individual nurses, but also other health care workers, leaders and politicians.

Bakgrund: Det finns en skillnad mellan att avstå eller avsluta livsuppehållande behandling. Att avstå från livsuppehållande behandling definieras som att inte starta eller inte fortsätta åtgärderna medan avslut av livsuppehållande behandling handlar om att aktivt stoppa behandlingen. Genom vetenskap och beprövad erfarenhet ska nytta och risker med den livsuppehållande behandlingen övervägas till den döende patienter då inget botemedel längre finns. Syftet: Syftet var att belysa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda patienter vid avslut av livsuppehållande behandling. Metod:Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie. En systematisk litteratursökning utfördes. Resultat: Studien resulterade i tio vetenskapliga artiklar som utformade resultatet. I resultatet framkom tre kategorier: sjuksköterskors stödjande roll, emotionell påverkan och delaktighet i beslutsprocessen. Slutsats: Att vårda patienter där livsuppehållande behandling avslutas hade en emotionell påverkan hos sjuksköterskor och att de saknade tid och kunskap för att kunna bearbeta sorg. Sjuksköterskors omvårdnad av närstående sågs som en viktig del i omvårdnaden av patienterna. Att få inkluderas vid läkarens ställningstagande om den livsuppehållande behandling skall avslutas eller inte, sågs värdefullt då sjuksköterskorna var de som följt patienten under en längre tid. Denna litteraturstudien ökar förståelsen för sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda patienter där livsuppehållande behandling avslutats. Sjuksköterskor är en viktig komponent i omvårdnaden av patienter och det är viktigt för sjuksköterskor att lära sig bearbeta sina känslor. / Background: There is a difference between withholding life-sustaining treatment or withdrawing life sustaining-treatment. Withholding life-sustaining treatment is defined as not initiating or not continue life-sustaining treatment, while withdrawing life-sustaining treatment is about actively stopping the treatment. Through science and proven experience, the benefits and risks associated with life-sustaining treatment should be considered for the dying patients when there is no cure. Aim: The aim was to highlight the nurses' experience of caring for patients when life-sustaining treatment is terminated. Method: The study was conducted as a general literature study. A systematic literature search was performed. Result: The study resulted in ten scientific articles that formed the results. The results revealed three categories: nurse's supporting role, emotional influence and participation in the decision-making process. Conclusion: Caring for patients with life-sustaining treatment was terminated had an emotional impact on the nurses and the nurses had lack of time and knowledge to be able to process their grief. Caring for the close relatives was seen as an important part of the nurse's care in patients. To be included in the doctor's opinion about whether the life-sustaining treatment should be terminated or not, was considered valuable because the nurses were those who followed the patient for a long time. This literature study increases the understanding of nurses' experience of caring for patients where life-sustaining treatment has been terminated. Nurses' are an important component in nursing of patients and it is important for nurses to learn how to process their feelings.

Background: Decisions about potentially life-sustaining treatment are often not raised with patients and families until end of life (if at all), and are influenced by their many relationships. Objective: Understand how patients and families' relationships impacted their experiences of making these decisions, and how healthcare philosophies impacted authors' portrayal of these experiences. Methods: Qualitative metasynthesis design. Purposeful sampling was used to select the 19 qualitative studies included. Relational ethics and meta-study (an approach to metasynthesis) guided data collection and analysis. Findings: 1) Closeness in relationships was valued. Healthcare professionals' (dis)honesty and (lack of) empathy affected closeness with patients/families; 2) Patients' identity and quality of life was considered in decisions, and was maintained through close relationships; 3) Reliance on relationships occurred for information, care and support; 4) Decision makers felt a sense of responsibility to consider their relationships when deliberating treatments; 5) Normative discourses were reflected in authors' writing.

Livsuppehållande vård möjliggör för många patienter ett förlängt liv. Att förlänga livet medför många etiska dilemman som kräver en öppen dialog vårdteamet sinsemellan. Sjuksköterskan är aldrig den som fattar beslut angående den livsuppehållande vården men är den som verkställer beslutet och utgör en länk mellan patient och vårdteam. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att undersöka hur sjuksköterskor upplever livsuppehållande vård. En frågeställning med nära anknytning till syftet utformades för att nå en djupare förståelse för ämnet. Metoden är en systematisk litteraturstudie bearbetad genom Goodmans sju steg för en forskningsprocess. Studien baseras på tio vetenskapliga artiklar framtagna genom databassökningar i databaserna PubMed och CINAHL. Resultatet från artikelgranskningen visar på att sjuksköterskorna inte upplever att deras åsikter tages med i beslutsfattandet av livsuppehållande vård samt att information som ligger till grund för beslutsfattandet ej meddelas dem. Slutsatsen för litteraturstudien är att sjuksköterskor upplever många känslor i den livsuppehållande vården men saknar ett forum där känslorna kan komma till uttryck. / Life-sustaining treatment makes it possible for a lot of patients to prolong their lives. Prolongation of life creates many ethical dilemmas that require an open dialogue within the patient care team. The nurse is never the one who makes the decision regarding the life-sustaining treatment but is the one who carries out the decision and constitute a link between the patient and the care team. The aim of this literature review is to examine nurses’ perception of life-sustaining treatment. One question with close attachment to the aim of this study was framed to reach a deeper understanding for the subject. The method is a systematic literature review processed through Goodman’s seven steps for a science process. The study is based on ten scientific articles assembled through searches in the databases PubMed and CINAHL. The results from the review of the articles show that nurses do not feel that their opinion is valued when decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment are being taken, and that they are not permitted to take part of the information that the decision is based on. The conclusion of this literature review is that nurses experience many feelings towards life-sustaining treatment but lacks a forum where the feelings may be expressed.

The starting point of the present thesis is nurses’ reported experiences of disagreements with physicians for pushing life sustaining treatment too far. The overall aim was to describe and compare nurses’ and physicians’ perspectives on the boundaries for life-sustaining treatment and to evaluate whether ethics rounds could promote mutual understanding and stimulate ethical reflection. A mixed methods design with qualitative and quantitative data was used, including interviews and questionnaires. The health professionals’ experiences/perceptions were based on known patients foremost from general wards, but also intensive care units, at four Swedish hospitals. The first two studies treated the perspective on boundaries for life-sustaining treatment and the last two evaluated philosopher- ethicist led ethics rounds. Analysis of data was performed using a phenomenological approach and content analysis as well as comparative and descriptive non-parametric statistics. In the first study, the essence of the physicians’ decision-making process to limit life-sustaining treatment for ICU patients, was a process of principally medical considerations in discussions with other physicians. In the second study, there were more similarities than differences between nurses’ and physicians’ opinions regarding the 714 patients studied. The physicians considered limited treatment as often as the nurses did. The ethics rounds studies generated mixed experiences/perceptions. It seemed that more progress was made toward the goal of promoting mutual understanding than toward the goal of stimulating ethical reflection. Above all, the rounds seemed to meet the need for a forum for crossing over professional boundaries. The most salient finding was the insight to enhance team collaboration, that the interprofessional dialogue was sure to continue. Predominating new insights after rounds were interpreted as corresponding to a hermeneutic approach. One of nurses’ negative experiences of the ethics rounds was associated with the lack of solutions. Based on the present findings, one suggestion for improvement of the model of ethics rounds is made with regard to achieving a balance between ethical analyses, conflict resolution and problem solving. In conclusion, the present thesis provides strong evidence that differences in opinions regarding boundaries for life-sustaining treatment are not associated with professional status. The findings support the notion of a collaborative team approach to end-of-life decision-making for patients with diminished decisionmaking capacity. There is an indication that stimulation of ethical reflection in relation to known patients may foremost yield psychosocial insights. This could imply that social conflicts may overshadow ethical analysis or that ethical conflicts and social conflicts are impossible to distinguish.

Bakgrund: Då det inte längre finns en kurativ behandling för en patient som intensivvårdats är det av betydelse att föra diskussioner kring avbrytande av livsuppehållande behandling. Avbrytandet innefattar flertalet aspekter som intensivvårdssjuksköterskan i olika grad kan påverka.  Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva intensivvårdssjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att avbryta livsuppehållande behandling.  Metod: Kvalitativ studie där tio intensivvårdssjuksköterskor intervjuades med semistrukturerade frågor.  Resultat: Tre teman med fem subteman framkom; Betydelsen av att kommunicera, När det är dags att avbryta samt Viljan att göra gott. Intensivvårdssjuksköterskorna belyste betydelsen av en tvärprofessionell kommunikation för att främja teamarbetet. Närstående ska involveras tidigt i vårdförloppet då det ökar upplevelsen av delaktighet. Vårdmiljön ansågs inte anpassad för palliativ vård men anpassades i den mån det är möjligt. Patientens önskemål kring sin vård ska beaktas. Intensivvårdssjuksköterskorna beskrev att ett tidigare beslut gällande avbrytande av livsuppehållande behandling skulle kunna förhindra onödigt lidande. Ångest- och smärtlindrande läkemedel var avgörande vid vård i livets slutskede. Konklusion: En förbättrad kommunikation tvärprofessionellt ansågs minska patientens lidande. Involvering av patient och närstående främjar delaktighet. Vårdmiljön ansågs inte gynnsam för palliativ vård men anpassades i den mån det var möjligt. Genom att intensivvårdssjuksköterskor delar med sig av sina erfarenheter kan patientens hälsa främjas och lidande reduceras. / Background: When there no longer is a curative treatment for an intensive care patient it is important to discuss the aspects of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. The withdrawal of treatment includes several aspects that the intensive care nurse in various ways can affect.  Aim: The aim of this study was to describe intensive care nurses experiences' in withdrawing life-sustaining treatment.  Method: A qualitative design with ten intensive care nurses that were interviewed with semi-structured questions.  Results: Three themes and five subthemes emerged; The importance of communicating, When it is time to withdraw treatment and The will to do good. Interprofessional communication was considered promoting teamwork. Relatives' involvement increases the experience of participation. The intensive care environment is not considered adapted for palliative care. The patients wishes regarding their care must be taken into consideration. The intensive care nurses described that an earlier decision regarding withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment could prevent unnecessary suffering. Drugs to reduce anxiety and pain was crucial in end-of-life care.  Conclusion: Improved interprofessional communication was considered to reduce the patient's suffering. Involvement of patients and relatives promoted participation. The care environment was not considered favorable for palliative care but was adapted as far as possible. By sharing intensive care nurses' experiences, the patient's health can be promoted and suffering reduced.

Background: Since the 60s and with increasing intensity a discussion have continued about balance between useful and useless/harmful treatment. Different attempts have been done to create sustainable criteria and recommendations to manage the situations of futile treatment near the end of life. Obviously, to be able to withhold (WH) or withdraw (WD) treatment which is no longer appropriate or even harmful and burdensome for the patient, other processes than strict medical (or physiological) assessments are necessary. Aim. To shed light on the arguments regarding to WH or WD futile treatment we performed two studies of physicians’ and the general populations’ choice and prioritized arguments in the treatment of a 72-year-old woman suffering from a large intra-cerebral bleeding with bad prognosis (Papers I and II) and a new born boy with postpartum anoxic brain damage (Papers III and IV). Methods. Postal questionnaires based on two cases presented above involving severely ill patients were used. Arguments for and against to WH or WD treatment, and providing treatment that might hasten death were presented. The respondents evaluated and prioritized arguments for and against withholding neurosurgery, withdrawing life-sustaining treatment and providing drugs to alleviate pain and distress. We also asked what would happen to physicians’ own trust if they took the action described, and what the physician estimated would happen to the general publics’ trust in health services (Paper IV). Results. Approximately 70% of the physicians and 46% of the general public responded in both surveys. The 72-year-old woman: A majority of doctors (82.3%) stated that they would withhold treatment, whereas a minority of the general public (40.2%) would do so; the arguments forwarded and considerations regarding quality of life differed significantly between the two groups. Quality-of-life aspects were stressed as an important argument by the majority of both neurosurgeons and ICU-physicians (76.8% vs. 54.0%); however, significantly more neurosurgeons regarded this argument as the most important. A minority in both groups, although more ICU-physicians, supported a patient’s previously expressed wish of not ending in a persistent vegetative state as the most important argument. As the case clinically progressed, a consensus evolved regarding the arguments for decision making. The new born child: A majority of both physicians [56 % (CI 50–62)] and the general population [53 % (CI 49–58)] supported arguments for withdrawing ventilator treatment. A large majority in both groups supported arguments for alleviating the patient’s symptoms even if the treatment hastened death, but the two groups display significantly different views on whether or not to provide drugs with the additional intention of hastening death, although the difference disappeared when we compared subgroups of those who were for or against euthanasia-like actions. Conclusions. There are indeed considerable differences in how physicians and the general public assess and reason in critical care situations, but the more hopelessly ill the patient became the more the groups' assessments tended to converge, although they prioritized different arguments. In order to avoid unnecessary dispute and miscommunication, it is important that health care providers are aware of the public's views, expectations, and preferences. Our hypothesis—physicians’ estimations of others’ opinions are influenced by their own opinions—was corroborated. This might have implications in research as well as in clinical decision-making.

Bakgrund: Beslut om att avstå och avbryta livsuppehållande behandling har de senaste åren ökat i antal inom intensivvården i Europa. Intensivvårdspatienter har ofta nedsatt autonomi, och läkare och sjuksköterskor måste därför försöka avgöra vad som är rätt för patienten. Detta kan orsaka moralisk stress eftersom att det inte finns några enhetliga riktlinjer för när den livsuppehållande behandlingen övergår till att vara meningslös. Motiv: Beslut kring att avstå eller avbryta livsuppehållande behandling kan vara ett mångfacetterat etiskt beslut som försvåras av intensivvårdspatientens nedsatta autonomi. Den föreliggande studien syftar till att belysa de etiska utmaningar som uppstår när beslutet ska fattas. Syfte: Att belysa läkares och sjuksköterskors resonemang kring att avstå och avbryta livsuppehållande behandling på en intensivvårdsavdelning. Metod: En vinjettstudie genomfördes med individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer med intensivvårdsläkare (n=5) och intensivvårdssjuksköterskor (n=5). Insamlad data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Deltagarnas resonemang kring att avstå och avbryta livsuppehållande behandling utmynnade i nio subteman som delades in i tre olika teman; Strävan efter att göra gott, Involvering av närstående och Behov av reflektion i teamet. Konklusion: Teamet ansågs betydelsefullt i beslut kring livsuppehållande behandling. Det fanns ibland olika uppfattningar inom teamet kring vilken behandling som gagnar patienten och vidare forskning behövs kring metoder, exempelvis etiska ronder, för att överbrygga dessa meningsskiljaktigheter. Om de etiska utmaningarna läkare och sjuksköterskor upplever kring beslut att avstå eller avbryta livsuppehållande behandling uppmärksammas och diskuteras, ökar chanserna för att alla involverade känner att rätt beslut fattas för patienten som individ. / Background: There is an increase of decisions to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment within intensive care units in Europe. Intensive care patients often have a limited autonomy and physicians and nurses therefore have to decide what is right for the patient. This can cause moral stress due to a lack of unitary guidelines for when life sustaining treatment becomes futile. Motive: Decisions to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment can be a multifaceted ethical dilemma that is complicated by the intensive care patients' limited autonomy. This study aims to illustrate the ethical challenges occurring when this decision is to be made. Aim: To illustrate the reasoning of physicians' and nurses' about withholding and withdrawing life sustaining treatment in an intensive care unit. Methods: A vignette study was conducted with individual semi structured interviews with intensive care physicians (n=5) and intensive care nurses (n=5). Collected data was analysed with qualitative content analysis. Result: The participants reasoning to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment resulted in nine subthemes that was further divided into three themes; Striving to do good, Involment of relatives and A need to reflect within the team. Conclusion: The team was considered important in decisions regarding life- sustaining treatment. Sometimes there were different views within the team about what treatment would benefit the patient and further research is needed of methods, such as ethical rounds to overcome disagreements regarding decisions to withhold and withdraw life-sustaining treatment within intensive care. If these ethical challenges experienced by physicians and nurses due to these decisions are acknowledged and discussed, chances increase that everyone involved feels that the right decision is made for the patient as an individual.

Contexte : Qu’ils soient parlementaires, sociétaux ou judiciaires, les débats actuels relatifs à la fin de vie font ressortir de vives préoccupations sociales, éthiques et politiques en France et dans le monde. L’affaire « Vincent LAMBERT » illustre parfaitement les enjeux de situations médicales à la frontière de la vie et de la mort et montre ainsi les limites de l’encadrement législatif des situations de fin de vie. Les rebondissements juridictionnels successifs intervenus dans cette affaire font observer à quel point la prise de décision médicale est complexe, tiraillée entre les volontés, parfois opposées, du patient, de ses proches, voire des professionnels de santé. Objectif : L’objectif de notre recherche était d’identifier les barrières rencontrées lors de la prise de décision médicale devant mettre en œuvre un refus anticipé de traitement. Il convenait de répondre à la question suivante : un refus de soins anticipé est-il une décision impossible ? Méthodes : La première partie des travaux présentés a consisté à recueillir l’avis et évaluer les connaissances des patients et de leurs accompagnants sur les moyens qui permettent à un patient d’exprimer sa volonté par anticipation. La deuxième partie a consisté dans l’identification des critères d’efficacité et d’inefficacité des directives anticipées à travers une analyse de la littérature scientifique et une recherche en droit comparé. La troisième partie présente les difficultés rencontrées dans la mise en œuvre des décisions de limitation et d’arrêt des traitements sur les plans pratique et judiciaire. Conclusion : L’ensemble des questions soulevées au cours de cette recherche suggère la nécessité de développer, en France, des mécanismes efficients d’expression anticipée de la volonté des patients et de promouvoir leur diffusion. Les personnes désirant rédiger des directives anticipées devraient pouvoir avoir accès à un dispositif garantissant le respect et l’effectivité de leur droit à refuser un traitement. Une personne dans l’incapacité d’exprimer sa volonté devrait pouvoir exercer les mêmes droits de refuser un traitement et de voir ce choix respecté qu’une personne capable de s’exprimer. / Context: The current debates concerning the end of life deal with legal, judicial and social issues. What is clear is they all highlight some serious social, ethical and political concerns in France and in the world. The case « Vincent Lambert » shows exactly the difficulties of medical situations between the life and the death of patients, which puts in evidence the limits of the legal framework. Indeed, several judicial reversals happened in this case and illustrate well how difficult it is to make a right medical decision when the patient, their relatives and medical staff have conflicting views. Objective: The objective of our research was to identify which are the difficulties when medical staff has to make a decision applying an anticipated refusal of treatment. As a consequence, the challenge was to answer the following question: is an anticipated refusal of treatment an impossible decision? Methods: Our work was divided into three parts. The first part aimed at asking patients’ opinions as well as assessing their knowledge of the different ways to express their will in advance. Then, the second part had to determine which criteria ensure a good application of advance directives. This study was based on an analysis of the scientific literature and a work in Comparative Law. In the end, the third part presents both practical and judicial problems regarding the application of a decision whose the goal is to withhold and withdraw a life-sustaining treatment Conclusion: This research has raised several issues and it draws our attention on the need to devise effective ways to give an anticipated consent about the end of life. If people want to write advance directives, they should have the possibility to do so and make sure their right to refuse a treatment is respected. In addition, even though someone is unable to give their consent because of their condition or disease, they should be able to use the same right to refuse a treatment and should be sure their decision is respected.