ABSTRACT
Mr Albert Randall had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Western Hospital following surgery for a perforated duodenal ulcer…. Here we [join] the situation the day after it had been decided by medical staff that ‘active treatment’ would no longer be given. It is the general shift handover from the night staff to the ‘early’ staff. The chargenurse, Z, who has been caring for Mr Randall overnight, is speaking:
Z: ‘We’ve turned him about three times, his feed is still going and he’s on ten breaths [of the ventilator]. I didn’t adjust the ventilator down any more, because I think he would go quickly, and I didn’t think it was fair to telephone his wife at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning.’
