Suter Science Seminars
Monday, October 27, 2008
4 p.m., Science Center 104
How We Got to Where We Are: A Brief Review of the Right to Refuse Treatment
Mimi Mahon, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Since the mid-20th century, advances in medical technology, from antibiotics and chemotherapy to dialysis and ventilators, have changed how we live. Diseases that were previously fatal can now be cured, or have become diseases with which people live, hopefully well, for years. These technologies have changed not just how we live, but often how we die. Providers and patients confront decisions that never existed before.
In this presentation, factors affect health care decisions will be described. The cases of Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, and Terri Schiavo will frame the discussion.
About the Presenter
Mimi Mahon, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
Mimi Mahon is an Advanced Practice Nurse in palliative care and ethics. She reached that point following 20 years as a pediatric nurse (during which time she focused primarily on the care of children who were dying and their families). She received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, co-chaired the hospital ethics committee, and was a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. She did additional post graduate work in the areas of Palliative Care (Ursuline College) and became a pediatric nurse practitioner (University of Pennsylvania).
Mimi came to George Mason in 2005 as a nursing professor; her continuing research covers child bereavement issues, examines pediatricians’ beliefs about and practices with bereaved children, explores oncology nurses’ beliefs about caring for patients with cancer, and investigates the symptoms and experiences of seriously ill patients.
