scholarly journals POLST Signature Requirements: Responding With Compassion While Ensuring Informed Consent

2020 ◽  
pp. 104990912095308
Author(s):  
Robert Macauley ◽  
Susan Tolle
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Health Care Professional ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Decisional Capacity ◽  
Spiritual Distress ◽  
Surrogate Decision

The majority of states require the signature of a surrogate decision maker on a POLST form for a patient who lacks decisional capacity. While commendable in its intention to ensure informed consent, in some cases this may lead the surrogate to feel that they are signing their loved one’s “death warrant,” adding to their emotional and spiritual distress. In this paper we argue that such a signature should be recommended rather than required, as it is neither a sufficient nor necessary condition of informed consent. Additional steps—such as requiring the attestation and documentation of the signing health care professional that verbal consent was fully informed and voluntary—can achieve the ultimate goal of respecting patient autonomy without adding to the surrogate’s burden.

Psychiatric Advance Directives

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula K. Vuckovich
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Care Provider ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Autonomous Control ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Psychiatric Advance Directives ◽  
Mentally Ill Persons ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) have been legally defined in 12 states and implemented in all but 9. PADs may prevent unwanted treatment and identify preferred treatment. They may also allow mentally ill persons to exercise autonomous control over care even during periods of illness-induced incompetence. PADs can be beneficial for intermittently psychotic patients who have a trusted health care provider and a surrogate decision maker. Because of the growing interest in the use of PADs, nurses should be informed about the intended purposes, benefits, and drawbacks of them.

scholarly journals INFORMED CONSENT IN CLINICAL TRIALS FOR PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S28-S28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan G Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Consent Document ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Abstract Informed consent is one of the most important processes during the implementation of a clinical trial; special attention must be given to meeting the needs of persons with dementia in nursing homes who have impaired decision making capacity. We overcame several challenges during enrollment and consent of potential participants in a pilot clinical trial including: (1) the consent document was designed for legally authorized representatives however some potential participants were capable of making their own decisions; (2) the written document was lengthy yet all seven pages were required by the IRB; (3) the required legal wording was difficult to understand and deterred potential participants; and (4) the primary mode of communication was via phone. We tailored assent and informed consent procedures to persons with dementia and their legally authorized representative/surrogate decision maker to avoid risking an incomplete trial and to improve generalizability of trial results to all persons with dementia.

Argumentation and informed consent in the doctor–patient relationship

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Bickenbach
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
Argumentation Theory ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Patient Relationship ◽  
Doctor Patient Relationship ◽  
Consent To Treatment

Argumentation theory has much to offer our understanding of the doctor-patient relationship as it plays out in the context of seeking and obtaining consent to treatment. In order to harness the power of argumentation theory in this regard, I argue, it is necessary to take into account insights from the legal and bioethical dimensions of informed consent, and in particular to account for features of the interaction that make it psychologically complex: that there is a fundamental asymmetry of authority, power and expertise between doctor and patient; that, given the potential for coercion, it is a challenge to preserve the interactive balance presumed by the requirement of informed consent; and finally that the necessary condition that patients be ‘competent to consent’ may undermine the requirement of respecting patient autonomy. I argue argumentation theory has the resources to deal with these challenges and expand our knowledge, and appreciation, of the informed consent interaction in health care.

Advance Care Planning and Surrogate Decision-Making (DRAFT)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Macauley
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Substituted Judgment ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Advance Care ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Adult patients are presumed to possess decision-making capacity, but when they are unable to make their own decisions—which is especially frequent in the context of serious illness—ideally a surrogate decision-maker will be able to determine what the patient would have wanted (i.e., substituted judgment). Only when this is not possible is it necessary to fall back on what seems to be in the patient’s best interests. To foster patient autonomy, goals and values should be identified and documented in advance, such as in an advance directive, as well as a surrogate decision-maker named. This helps guide the medical team in critical and often uncertain times, given the challenges in accurate prognostication (which are lessening with the advent of evidence-based tools).

Autism and Advance Directives: Determining Capability and the Use of Health-Care Tools to Aid in Effective Communication and Decision-Making

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 354-363
Author(s):  
Valerie Satkoske ◽  
Joann M. Migyanka ◽  
David Kappel
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Surrogate Decision ◽  
End Of Life Decision ◽  
Life Decision

With the growing number of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) reaching the age of consent, health-care providers must be prepared to bridge gaps in their knowledge of ASD. This is especially true for clinicians who may have to determine if a person with ASD has the capacity to engage in end-of-life decision making, complete advance directives, or act as a surrogate decision maker for someone else. This paper provides an overview of the unique characteristics of autism as related to the communication, cognitive processing, and the capability to participate in advance care planning and, when acting as a surrogate decision maker, to consider the values and preferences of others. In addition, we examine the roles and responsibilities of clinician as facilitator of shared health-care decision making communication with the individual who has autism. Consideration is given to determining capacity, planning for atypical responses, the impact or lack of influence of the framing effect, and strategies for presenting information. Finally, we will offer health-care providers information and examples for adapting their existing end-of-life decision-making tools and conversation guides to meet the communication needs of persons with ASD.

scholarly journals Older Adults More Likely to Discuss Advance Care Plans With an Attorney Than With a Physician

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 233372141774197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Bern-Klug ◽  
Elizabeth A. Byram
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Surrogate Decision Maker ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Care Plans ◽  
Advance Care ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Adults are encouraged to discuss their end-of-life health care preferences so that their wishes will be known and hopefully honored. The purpose of this study was to determine with whom older adults had communicated their future health care wishes and the extent to which respondents themselves were serving as a surrogate decision maker. Results from the cross-sectional online survey with 294 persons aged 50 and older reveal that among the married, over 80% had a discussion with their spouse and among those with an adult child, close to two thirds (64%) had. Over a third had discussed preferences with an attorney and 23% with a physician. Close to half were currently serving as a surrogate decision maker or had been asked to and had signed papers to formalize their role. 18% did not think that they were a surrogate but were not sure. More education is needed to emphasize the importance of advance care planning with a medical professional, especially for patients with advanced chronic illness. More education and research about the role of surrogate medical decision makers is called for.

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