End-of-Life Ethics and Decision-Making

This topic confronts the profound ethical challenges surrounding death and dying, including withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, medical futility, palliative care, and euthanasia/assisted dying. For Zambian tertiary students in medicine, nursing, and counseling, these are sensitive but inevitable aspects of professional practice. The topic emphasizes the central role of patient autonomy through advance directives and surrogate decision-making, balanced against principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Students will explore cultural and religious perspectives on death prevalent in Zambia, the ethical distinction between killing and letting die, and the appropriate management of pain and suffering at the end of life. This knowledge prepares Zambian learners to provide compassionate, ethically sound care to dying patients and their families, to navigate difficult conversations about treatment limits, and to understand the legal and ethical boundaries of end-of-life care within the Zambian context.