Hi Racheljane. You're right. At times like this, accusations can fly in every direction. Legal backup is imperative for both the hospital (who always have a legal department anyway), and the patients family. While the doctors will probably not argue the costs issue, management most likely would.
The way it stands now, for adult patients, noone else can dictate what medical treatment should/should not occur apart from the doctor. We will talk to the family and get their opinion and explain the situation to them, but at the end of the day the decision is ours, though others might disagree on emotional/other grounds.
For children, things are very tricky. If I remember correctly, I think legally things are technically the same. However, being young patients, hospitals tend to tread a little more softly (for fear of media scandalising the situation...etc...).
As for the rights and wrongs that Osob was talking about, as with all ethical questions one can be asked at interviews and other times, there is no right answer. Having interviewed for a total of 5 years myself, I can say that when I ask such questions, I'm looking to see how a person analyses the situation, and whether they can see and argues both sides of the arguement, or whether they can only see their opinion.
But yeah racheljane, you're right. There are few things harder in the job than having to make these decisions, except possibly having to break bad news. I hate doing it, but it's gotta' be done....
