Patients With Implanted Cardiac Devices Should Learn About End-of-Life Options, Veterans Affairs Medical Center Reveals

An implanted heart rhythm device may generate repeated painful shocks during a patient’s final hours, at a time when the natural process of dying often affects the heart’s rhythm. Yet, clinicians rarely discuss options for limiting these distressing events at the end of life, according to a new review of literature, appearing in the current issue of American Journal of Nursing.

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