Case Study

Mr. K is a 43-year-old male who has been admitted to the coronary care unit after experiencing a myocardial infarction which led to a cardiac arrest. Mr. K has maintained a healthy and active lifestyle since his myocardial infarction three years ago. Prior to his admission, Mr. K was at home running on his treadmill as part of his morning routine. His wife, Mrs. K, heard a loud noise and ran downstairs to find Mr. K lying prone on the treadmill with a head injury and no pulse. Mrs. K called 9-1-1. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was not initiated until paramedics arrived, and it was approximately 45 min until Mr. K had a return of spontaneous circulation. Mr. K was intubated at home and then brought into hospital where he was seen immediately by the cardiac team, which included an advanced practice nurse (APN). The APN’s role was to gather information about what might have led to Mr. K’s event and to consider the current goals of care. Given the estimated downtime (time without adequate blood circulation), the APN acknowledges that Mr. K would most likely suffer from severe anoxic brain injury, and his prognosis would be poor.

Although nothing had been confirmed by the physician, the APN recognizes that there is a strong possibility that she will need to support Mrs. K through the withdrawal of care for her husband. After considering this, the APN became overwhelmed with emotion as she thinks about her own spouse who is the same age as Mr. K. In addition, the APN also experienced profound frustration as to why Mrs. K did not initiate CPR for her husband. As the team continues to aggressively work on Mr. K, the APN will be Mrs. K’s initial point of contact and will work closely with her to meet the overall goals of care for Mr. K.

Discussion: 

a. Choose three types of decision-making models that will assist the APN in providing care to Mr. K and Mrs. K. Compare and contrast the three chosen models making sure to discuss key aspects of these models and the benefits and limitations of these models in addressing the above situation.

b. Describe the rationale for choosing the decision-making models to apply to the case study scenario.

c. What do you feel is best decision-making model to use for APN? Provide a rationale.

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