Your example is great to show how a nurse needs to be sure to support her patient and/or families decision, even if it does not coincide with her own. We are there to support the decisions our patients make. If there is a question if a patient is competent to make their own decisions, in my nursing practice we have consulted behavior medicine to evaluate if the patient meets the qualifications for making their own decisions. There are many different resources that can help you with these difficult situation. We have social services, chaplain, nurse case manager and the provider. In the example given, it is best to use inter-disciplinary rounds to help ensure that all inter-disciplinary, including the nurse is on the same page
