On/Off

In France a person’s dying process often unfolds inside a hospital. The advanced technology associated with intensive care is the focus of the last hopes of our death-averse civilization. Trained to save lives, intensive-care personnel are becoming our society’s undertakers. Our project describes how hard it is for health care profes- sionals doctors, nurses, nurse’s aides, and medical students to confront and “ manage ” death on a day-to-day basis. And the people respond frankly, with their private feelings, dreams, and ethical or medical ideas. We discover the multitude of questions they face. When life hangs by a thread, when is it time to pull the plug ? Where is the boundary between reasonable treatment and medical futility ? Do nurses become attached to their patients ? How do they fight off the grief from witnessing so many deaths ?