Advance Directives (Living Will)
A living will and other advance directives denote to written lawful instructions regarding an individual’s preferences for medical care if they are not able to make decisions for themselves. Advance directives serve to provide guide choices for physicians and caregivers if one is fatally sick, in a coma, severely injured, in the late phases of dementia or near the end of life (Lack, Biller-Andorno & Brauer, 2013). It is important to note that advance directives are not just for the elderly. Unforeseen end-of-life circumstances can occur at any age, and so it is paramount for all adults to ensure that they prepare these documents.
Power of Attorney
This is a kind of advance directive in which an individual provides the name of a person to make decisions for them when they are not able to do so. Depending on where an individual resides, the person that is chosen to make decisions on an individual’s behalf may be referred to as one of the following: Patient advocate, healthcare proxy, healthcare surrogate, and healthcare representative
Importantly, people are advised to ensure that the person they choose to be their proxy should be somebody who knows them well and someone they trust to conduct their wishes (Cebuhar, 2015). The proxy should comprehend how one would make decisions if one were able and should be at ease making queries and advocating to the healthcare team on one’s behalf.
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Orders
Resuscitation means that the healthcare staff will attempt to re-start the heart of a person and breathing utilizing a method like CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Therefore, a DNR order means that if a person ceases from breathing or the heart stops, the healthcare staff should not do anything to try to keep the person alive. In that regard, one has the liberty of asking the doctor to add a DNR order to the medical record. This is only asked if one does not want the staff at hospital to attempt to revive their heart or breathing if it ceased. Notably, even if an individual has a living will that encompasses their preferences with regards to resuscitation and intubation, it is still advisable to establish DNR orders each time one is admitted to a new hospital.
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
In a number of states, advance care planning encompasses a document that is referred to as Physician orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST). POLST aims at individuals who have already been diagnosed with a severe disease. This directive does not substitute other directives. Rather, it serves as physician-ordered instructions-not unlike a prescription-to make sure that, in the event of an emergency, one gets the treatment they prefer (Berlinger et al., 2013). Matters that the POLST cover may encompass: Feeding through a tube, utilization of antibiotics, mechanical ventilation, requests not to be transferred to the ER, management of pain, and resuscitation
Conclusion
Obviously, advance directives are important. This is because they give one the right to make decisions about their own medical care. As such, one is able to make a broad range of instructions that one may make orally or written regarding actions that one would or would not desire to be taken if one somehow became incapacitated and not able to join in making decisions. Importantly, advance directives make one plan ahead thus making it possible to get the medical care one wants. This prevents needless suffering and relieves caregivers of burdens associated with decision making during crisis moments.
References
Berlinger, N., Jennings, B., Wolf, S. M., & Center, H. (2013). The Hastings Center Guidelines for Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment and Care Near the End of Life: Revised and Expanded Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Cebuhar, J. K. (2015). 2015 Edition – The Practical Guide to Health Care Advance Directives. Murphy Publishing.
Lack, P., Biller-Andorno, N., & Brauer, S. (2013). Advance Directives. Berlin, Germany:
Springer Science & Business Media.
