2006 Houston

Practical and Ethical Implications of NDE Research for Palliative, End-of-Life, and Other Clinical Care and Educational Settings

In many medical settings, death is considered the enemy – or professional defeat. What ethical and practical implications does this hold for the care of near-death experiencers? Presenters Diane Corcoran and Debbie James, two nurses long involved in the care of near-death experiencers and nationally recognized Nursing Speakers, review 30 years of literature on this subject. They concentrate on the subject of nursing education but touch on issues relating to mental health and pastoral counseling as well. Given the frequency of NDEs occurring in critical care hospital environments, the presenters lay out a road map of what needs to be done for the training of all types of health care professionals with particular emphasis on ethical implications and practical applications for palliative and end-of-life care.