Advance Directives, Do Not Resuscitate Orders, and Power of Attorney for Health Care

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Schwarze
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Surgical Patients ◽  
Living Wills ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate Orders ◽  
Surrogate Decision ◽  
Binding Mechanisms

Documentation of future wishes for life-supporting therapy includes living wills, do not resuscitate orders, and designations of a durable power of attorney for health care. All are legally binding mechanisms. Because surgeons may need to refer to these documents, this chapter discusses the use of advance directives and living wills in surgical patients, the use of do not resuscitate orders in the operating room, and the activation and use of power of attorney and subsequent surrogate decision-making. A figure shows a living will designating conditions for resuscitation. This review contains 42 references.

Advance Directives, Do Not Resuscitate Orders, and Power of Attorney for Health Care

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Stafman ◽  
Sushanth Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Advance Directive ◽  
Persistent Vegetative State ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate Orders

In 2005, Terri Schiavo collapsed at home and was found by her husband without respirations or a pulse. She was resuscitated, but suffered severe anoxic brain injury and after 21/2 months was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. A court appointed her husband as her legal guardian as she did not have a written advance directive and had not specified a power of attorney for health care (POAHC), but heated court battles raged between her husband and her parents regarding who should be making decisions and what the appropriate decisions were. This case highlights the importance of writing down instructions for end-of-life care or designating someone to make decisions in their best interest in the event they could not make these decisions themselves. This review covers advance directives, do-not-resuscitate orders, and POAHC. Figures show an extended values history form, an example of a living will, the California’s Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, components of the CURVES mnemonic to assess decision-making capacity in critical/emergency situations, and activation and deactivation of power of attorney for health care. Tables list the most common types of advance directive and description of each, barriers to the use of advance directives, common themes in surgeons’ attitudes regarding advance directives, general requirements and exclusions for POAHC, and requirements for decision-making capacity in patients. This review contains 5 highly rendered figures, 5 tables, and 56 references

Advance Directives, Do Not Resuscitate Orders, and Power of Attorney for Health Care

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Stafman ◽  
Sushanth Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Advance Directive ◽  
Persistent Vegetative State ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate Orders

In 2005, Terri Schiavo collapsed at home and was found by her husband without respirations or a pulse. She was resuscitated, but suffered severe anoxic brain injury and after 21/2 months was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. A court appointed her husband as her legal guardian as she did not have a written advance directive and had not specified a power of attorney for health care (POAHC), but heated court battles raged between her husband and her parents regarding who should be making decisions and what the appropriate decisions were. This case highlights the importance of writing down instructions for end-of-life care or designating someone to make decisions in their best interest in the event they could not make these decisions themselves. This review covers advance directives, do-not-resuscitate orders, and POAHC. Figures show an extended values history form, an example of a living will, the California’s Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, components of the CURVES mnemonic to assess decision-making capacity in critical/emergency situations, and activation and deactivation of power of attorney for health care. Tables list the most common types of advance directive and description of each, barriers to the use of advance directives, common themes in surgeons’ attitudes regarding advance directives, general requirements and exclusions for POAHC, and requirements for decision-making capacity in patients. This review contains 5 highly rendered figures, 5 tables, and 56 references

Advance Directives, Do Not Resuscitate Orders, and Power of Attorney for Health Care

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Stafman ◽  
Sushanth Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Advance Directive ◽  
Persistent Vegetative State ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate Orders

In 2005, Terri Schiavo collapsed at home and was found by her husband without respirations or a pulse. She was resuscitated, but suffered severe anoxic brain injury and after 21/2 months was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. A court appointed her husband as her legal guardian as she did not have a written advance directive and had not specified a power of attorney for health care (POAHC), but heated court battles raged between her husband and her parents regarding who should be making decisions and what the appropriate decisions were. This case highlights the importance of writing down instructions for end-of-life care or designating someone to make decisions in their best interest in the event they could not make these decisions themselves. This review covers advance directives, do-not-resuscitate orders, and POAHC. Figures show an extended values history form, an example of a living will, the California’s Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, components of the CURVES mnemonic to assess decision-making capacity in critical/emergency situations, and activation and deactivation of power of attorney for health care. Tables list the most common types of advance directive and description of each, barriers to the use of advance directives, common themes in surgeons’ attitudes regarding advance directives, general requirements and exclusions for POAHC, and requirements for decision-making capacity in patients. This review contains 5 highly rendered figures, 5 tables, and 56 references

Suicide and “do not resuscitate”: An ethical dilemma

2020 ◽  
pp. 147775092095955
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tariq Shakoor ◽  
Abdul Ahad ◽  
Samia Ayub ◽  
James Kruer
Keyword(s):  
Advance Directives ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Living Wills ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Surrogate Decision Makers ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Advance directives allow people to accept or decline medical interventions and to appoint surrogate decision makers if they become incapacitated. Living wills are written in ambiguous terms and require interpretation by clinical providers. Living wills cannot cover all conceivable end-of-life decisions. There is too much variability in clinical decision making to make an all-encompassing living will possible. While there are many limitations of advance directives, this article reviews some of the most troublesome ethical dilemmas with regard to advance directives.

In My Best Interest

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Mayer ◽  
Bryn Esplin ◽  
Christopher J. Burant ◽  
Brigid M. Wilson ◽  
MaryAnn Lamont Krall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Treatment Preferences ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Permanent Disability ◽  
Surrogate Decision

Background: Advance directives (ADs) have traditionally been viewed as clear instructions for implementing patient wishes at times of compromised decision-making capacity (DMC). However, whether individuals prefer ADs to be strictly followed or to serve as general guidelines has not been studied. The Veterans Administration’s Advance Directive Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will (VA AD) provides patients the opportunity to indicate specific treatment preferences and to indicate how strictly the directive is to be followed. Objective: To describe preferences for life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) in various illness conditions as well as instructions for the use of VA ADs. Design/Setting: A descriptive study was performed collecting data from all ADs entered into the medical record at 1 VA Medical Center between January and June 2014. Measurements: Responses to VA AD with emphasis on health care agents (HCAs) and LW responses. Results: Veterans were more likely to reject LST when death was imminent (74.6%), when in a coma (71.1%), if they had brain damage (70.6%), or were ventilator dependent (70.4%). A majority (67.4%) of veterans preferred the document to be followed generally rather than strictly. Veterans were more likely to want VA ADs to serve as a general guide when a spouse was named HCA. Conclusion: Most of the sampled veterans rejected LST except under conditions of permanent disability. A majority intend VA ADs to serve as general guidelines rather than strict, binding instructions. These findings have significant implications for surrogate decision making and the use of ADs more generally.

On the Edge of Death—To Intervene or Not

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Alexander Zoretich ◽  
Arvind Venkat
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
End Stage

Advance directives and actionable medical orders are documents that convey a patient’s wishes regarding medical treatment. Common advance directives are living will and health care power-of-attorney documents. Living wills state what a patient wants if not able to communicate for themselves and having an end-stage medical condition or permanent unconsciousness. Health care powers of attorney state whom a patient would want to make medical decisions on their behalf if not able to communicate for themselves. Both of these documents have minimal application in the emergency department given the time constraints of care in this setting. Actionable medical orders, such as Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLSTs), have immediate application in the emergency department but carry their own challenges in interpretation by emergency physicians. This chapter reviews the nature of advance directives and actionable medical orders and the legal and ethical challenges posed by their application in the emergency department.

Case Analyses of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients who Refused to Sign a Living Will

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald L. Stephens ◽  
Rosemary Grady
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Medical Technology ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Living Wills ◽  
Power Of Attorney ◽  
Terminally Ill Cancer Patients ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Detailed Evaluation ◽  
Individual Consideration

In a larger survey of fifty cancer patients offered living wills, six individuals declined to sign these advance directives. Theoretically, this failure to sign could either increase the chance for, or alternatively the patients' vulnerability to, resuscitation. A detailed evaluation of each of the six cases is contained herein. The potential value of living wills is discussed in the context of other, newer forms of advance directives, such as the durable power of attorney for health care, and a more detailed living will called the “Medical Directive.” It is concluded that the case for a living will in a cancer population still merits individual consideration, and in certain cases protects patients from unwarranted medical technology.

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.

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