I had a uworld question where the answer was to tell the family member (no special legal status) that the patient was stable. I thought: yeah, and I'm sure uworld will be funding the lawyer to defend me in that case 🤣
I just had this question. And specifically the vignette said the pt was stable in recovery. Like, at that point shouldn't the doc just walk to the PACU and ask for permission to share their status with the wife? and how was the doc able to determine if that was legally his wife? UW answer didn't make any sense.
It can be, but it doesn't carry the same meaning. The surrogate decision maker is the person who makes medical decisions for the patient when they cannot make their own medical decisions. They can be the person designated with the medical power of attorney or, if the patient doesn't have a living will or medical power of attorney, the surrogate would be the next of kin.
