List common ethical principles that support patient decision-making at end of life.

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Multiple Choice

List common ethical principles that support patient decision-making at end of life.

End-of-life decisions are guided by a set of core ethical principles that together support patient-centered choices. Autonomy means honoring the patient’s right to decide what happens to their body and life, including preferences about treatments, withdrawal of life-sustaining measures, or accepting palliative care. Beneficence and nonmaleficence balance doing good for the patient with avoiding harm—clinicians aim to relieve suffering and avoid interventions that cause unnecessary burden when they conflict with the patient’s wishes. Justice brings fairness to care, ensuring that decisions about resources and treatment are made without bias and with equitable access to options. Respect for cultural and spiritual beliefs acknowledges that a patient’s values, traditions, and faith shape their decisions, and care should be aligned with those values whenever possible. Privacy and confidentiality are important professional duties, but they’re about protecting information rather than guiding the decision-making process itself, so they aren’t central to the framework for end-of-life decisions.

End-of-life decisions are guided by a set of core ethical principles that together support patient-centered choices. Autonomy means honoring the patient’s right to decide what happens to their body and life, including preferences about treatments, withdrawal of life-sustaining measures, or accepting palliative care. Beneficence and nonmaleficence balance doing good for the patient with avoiding harm—clinicians aim to relieve suffering and avoid interventions that cause unnecessary burden when they conflict with the patient’s wishes. Justice brings fairness to care, ensuring that decisions about resources and treatment are made without bias and with equitable access to options. Respect for cultural and spiritual beliefs acknowledges that a patient’s values, traditions, and faith shape their decisions, and care should be aligned with those values whenever possible.

Privacy and confidentiality are important professional duties, but they’re about protecting information rather than guiding the decision-making process itself, so they aren’t central to the framework for end-of-life decisions.

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