PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

Running head:   PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE (PVS)
















Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) and Ethics


SaKenya K. Mayo

Jefferson College of Health Sciences
























Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) and Ethics


A person is considered to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) when they have had severe damage to their brain and were in a coma and then progressed to a condition of wakefulness without their awareness being evident.   When a person is diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, whether or not they will recover depends on the extent of injury to the brain.   If a person remains in this state more than a year then the chances of them regaining consciousness is low and if they do recover then they will have significant disability. The longer a person remains in a persistent vegetative state then their resulting disabilities are likely to be more severe.   A person can remain in this state for years with the help of a ventilator and artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH).   “Artificial nutrition and/or hydration is a treatment intervention that delivers fluids and/or nutrition by means other than a person taking something in his/her mouth and swallowing it. (Arenella, C. 2005)”
“Advance health care directives, also known as living wills, advance directives, or advance decisions, are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. (Wikipedia, 2009)”   An advance directive or living will is a very important, legal document to have in the event something happens to a person and they become incapacitated and are unable to make decisions about their own healthcare in the event they did not want to be resuscitated, or kept alive artificially. In the case where a person may not have an advance directive or a living will and they...