Terminal weaning is a clinical intervention for withdrawing mechanical ventilatory support when such support is an unacceptable outcome for a patient. Withdrawal of life support must be done in a humane manner for the patient, the family, and the patient’s care providers. Research-based directions for clinical practice are limited because of the paucity of research in this area. Recommendations for future study arc related to methods, facilitative therapy, patient, family, and caregiver responses, and care delivery models

The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) sponsored the Consensus Conference on Fostering More Human Care Creating a Healing Environment in October 1990 at Snowbird, Utah. The purpose of this conference was to address the challenges of providing sensitive, humane critical care in an increasingly technological and cost-conscious environment. The long-term objective was to develop this document (initially published by SCCM in 1992) as a resource for critical care professionals who are seeking methods by which to foster more humane care of their acutely ill patients.