Understanding Advance Directives

By Blanca Miller, PhD, RN

Advance directives are beneficial for any person regardless of whether they are ill or not. They become very important when a person is unable to make their own health care decisions because of an accident, the development of an acute illness, a chronic illness or a terminal illness. Advance directives provide a person the opportunity to communicate their wishes, in writing, related to health care treatment, end-of-life care, and the choice of identifying someone to make decisions about their health care if they are unable, therefore ensuring their healthcare choices are honored (Watson, 2010). There are two types of advance directives, the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

Power of attorney

The durable power of attorney for healthcare is a trusted individual that a person appoints to make legal medical decisions regarding healthcare care if they are unable. If a person has not appointed someone to be their durable power of attorney for healthcare in their advance directive, a healthcare surrogate will be appointed. A healthcare surrogate is someone that is not appointed by the person, but makes medical decisions for them if they are unable. A healthcare surrogate will be appointed by a healthcare organization’s ethics committee and/or the person’s health care provider. Although the person has no say who is appointed as the healthcare surrogate, the health care organization’s ethics committee/and or the patient’s healthcare provider will ensure they appoint someone that will make the best decisions for the person  (Abdelmalek, Goyal, Narula, Paulino, & Thomas-Hemak, 2013).

Advance directive options

People have various choices when executing an advance directive.  Choices include (a) being a full code, which includes life sustaining treatment; (b) do not resuscitate, which means that no resuscitation is to be done if the patient experiences cardiac arrest; (c) do not intubate, which means the person is not to be put on life support; (d) trial of treatment/best medical practice, is when a person receives aggressive treatment for a certain amount of time. If the person does not improve, withdrawal of care is discussed with the power of attorney for healthcare or healthcare surrogate. Other options people discuss with their health care provider when they have a chronic illness, poor prognosis, or terminal illness are palliative care, hospice care, and do-not-hospitalize.  Palliative care is implemented when a patient has a terminal illness or poor prognosis. The goal is to keep the person comfortable. Hospice care is provided to patients who have 6 months or less to live. The goal is to provide holistic care, including physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Do-not-hospitalize is when people with advanced chronic conditions choose not to be hospitalized, and rather are given comfort care if they should suffer an acute episode (Abdelmalek et al., 2013).

Benefits of having an advance directive

The benefit of having an advance directive is that this legal document allows a person to have their healthcare choices honored if they are unable to verbally state what type of treatment they want and do not want, or appointment someone that will follow through with their healthcare decisions. In order for an advance directive to be beneficial, a person must execute one before a health care crisis occurs.

References

Abdelmalek, C., Goyal, S., Narula, A., Paulino, R., & Thomas-Hemak, L. (2013, January/February). Advance directives: Give teeth to end-of-life choices. Aging Well, 6(1), 24-27.

Watson, E. (2010). Advance directives: Self-determination, legislation, and litigation issues. Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting, 21(1), 9-14.


miller phd

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blanca Miller, PhD, RN is an assistant professor of nursing at Illinois State University, Mennonite College of Nursing in Normal, Illinois. Her research interests include end-of-life care, nursing education, and diversity.

7 comments on Understanding Advance Directives

  1. Kylie Harvey says:

    GET RICH WITH BLANK ATM CARD, Whatsapp: +18033921735

    I want to testify about Dark Web blank atm cards which can withdraw money from any atm machines around the world. I was very poor before and have no job. I saw so many testimony about how Dark Web Cyber hackers send them the atm blank card and use it to collect money in any atm machine and become rich {DARKWEBONLINEHACKERS@GMAIL.COM} I email them also and they sent me the blank atm card. I have use it to get 500,000 dollars. withdraw the maximum of 5,000 USD daily. Dark Web is giving out the card just to help the poor. Hack and take money directly from any atm machine vault with the use of atm programmed card which runs in automatic mode.

    You can also contact them for the service below

    * Western Union/MoneyGram Transfer

    * Bank Transfer

    * PayPal / Skrill Transfer

    * Crypto Mining

    * CashApp Transfer

    * Bitcoin Loans

    * Recover Stolen/Missing Crypto/Funds/Assets

    Email: darkwebonlinehackers@gmail.com

    Text & Call or WhatsApp: +18033921735

  2. David Wili says:

    HOW I FINALLY RECOVERED MY LOST BITCOIN:
    Do you need help on how to recover lost or stolen Bitcoin from fake  investment scammers? I lost all my Bitcoin to a fake investment scam to someone I met online. After losing my Bitcoin investments, I was determined to find a solution. I started searching for help legally to recover my funds, and I came across a lot of Testimonies about  GEO COORDINATES HACKER. I am incredibly grateful for the exceptional service, and wanted to inform you all about this positive outcome. They emphasized their excellent strategy for Bitcoin recovery. In order to assist people and companies in recovering their lost or stolen cryptocurrencies. They guarantee that misplaced bitcoins have an opportunity to be recovered with their excellent services. If you or anyone you know ever finds yourselves in a similar unfortunate situation, I highly recommend reaching out to GEO COORDINATES HACKER. Contact Info Email:
    ( geovcoordinateshacker@proton.me )
    Email; ( geovcoordinateshacker@gmail.com )Telegram ( @Geocoordinateshacker )Website; https://geovcoordinateshac.wixsite.com/geo-coordinates-hack

  3. WGood says:

    BE CAREFUL of crypto platforms promising huge returns. They lure people into fake programs. I lost 198,450 USD last year. While researching on how to recover my funds, I came across several recommendations on the Bitcoin Abuse Forum about HACKERSTEVE. I contacted him via his email on hackersteve911@gmail.com | https//hackersteve.great-site.net/, and he helped me recover all my funds. If you’ve also been a victim of financial scams, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him.

  4. Recovery Intelligence says:

    ARE YOU A VICTIM OF INVESTMENT OR NFT SCAM? DO YOU WANT TO INVESTIGATE A CHEATING SPOUSE? DO YOU DESIRE CREDIT REPAIR (ALL BUREAUS)? SCHEDULE A MEETING WITH AN ETHICAL HACKER ASAP TO GET STARTED.

    Let us show you the art of Ethical Hacking….!

    EMERALD HACKS is a financial regulator, PRIVATE investigation and funds recovery body. We specialize in cases as regards ETHICAL HACKING, CRYPTOCURRENCY, FAKE INVESTMENT SCHEMES and RECOVERY SCAM. We are also experts in CREDIT REPAIR, we analyze what’s impacting your score.
    All software tools needed to execute RECOVERIES from start to finish are available in stock.
    Kindly NOTE that the available tools does NOT apply to CREDIT FIX.

    Be ALERT to FALSE reviews and testimonies on the internet, the authors and perpetrators unite to form a syndicate.

    Contact our team as soon as you can via the email address below to book a mail meeting with an ethical hacker.
    emeraldhacks.org@gmail.com

    Stay Safe out there !li

  5. I’m willing to talk about my experience investing in bitcoin. You can, however, get your stolen bitcoins back. I was taught that recovering bitcoin was impossible, therefore I never thought it was conceivable. I recently lost close to $99,000 after falling for a forex scam that promised absurdly large returns. I looked everywhere for assistance before finding a Seeker Assets Recovery article online. When I contact Seeker Assets Recovery, my excitement was once more total. Get in touch with Seeker Assets Recovery as soon as possible. They are a registered hacking group that can help with a quick and efficient bitcoin recovery. Contact Seeker Assets Recovery at:
    Website: seekerassetsrecovery . com
    Email: info@seekerassetsrecovery.com

  6. Patrick Anton says:

    My crypto wallet was compromised when I lost my seed phrase.
    Hackers got a hold of my crypto wallet after I lost the seed phrase to my crypto wallet which I had saved to my email.
    I had to go through all possible options to get it figured out but I couldn’t, the support system of Coinbase couldn’t help even when I had secured my account with the special seed phrase for extra security, and that was how I lost access to $2m worth of crypto coins.
    This was investment from my business partners which I had secured in my crypto wallet. Fortunately, I happen to stumble upon a post about MorphoHack Cyber Service, a crypto wallet and funds recovery company. I contacted this team and told them about the whole situation, while I was a bit reluctant about trusting them with my information, it happened there was nothing I couldn’t do to get my funds back so I went with everything they asked, and to my greatest satisfaction, MorphoHack cyber-service was able to give me access to my crypto wallet including securing my crypto wallet from future attempts. I’m in shock and short of words but if you wish to get a hold of them, you can find their contact details below. 
    MAIL:MorphoHack@CyberServices.com
    WHATS APP:+1 213  672- 4092

  7. Juliet Harald says:

    Hello Everyone,
    My name is Juliet Harald, and I’m from New Hampshire, I lost access to my crypto wallet when I mistakenly deleted the Seed Phrase to my wallet, and I couldn’t access my crypto wallet for weeks. It all became weird when I started getting emails of funds being transferred out of my crypto wallet. I saw $650K withdrawn from my account in a day and I was devastated, it felt like my world was coming down on me. I was torn apart and was in a debt crisis until a colleague of mine told me about Morphohack Cyber Service, a data and crypto wallet recovery service. I sent an email to (Morphohack@cyberservices.com) and the team responded immediately, providing me with support and assistance. I couldn’t believe it when Morphohack Cyber Service was able to trace and retrieve my crypto wallet, tracing all the funds that were withdrawn from my wallet, I’m hugely grateful for the services of Morphohack Cyber Service in helping me get back my crypto wallet and crypto funds. Their services were amazing and professional.
    Contact them via E-Mail(MORPHOHACK@CYBERSERVICES.COM) Whats-App(+1 213 672 4092)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

*

code

*

Understanding Advance Directives

Advance directives become very important when a person is unable to make their own health care decisions. Read more here.

Scroll to top 331