Advance Directives: What You Need to Know Now
Living Wills, Health Care Proxy, Do Not Resuscitate Orders and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
Many people are quick to take advantage of options that give them more power over their lives. When it comes to advance directives, not everyone is eager to jump on the band wagon.
Whether it is the influences of our youth-loving culture keeps people from completing advance directives or if it's the need to avoid thinking about illness and death, the choice to not make use of these legal documents prevents people from having control of that potential aspect of their lives. Perhaps a better understanding of what advance directives are -- and are not -- will remove some of the fear preventing some people from making use of these tools.
As Caring Connections explains, advance directives are not so much about how you want to die, but how you want to live.
What Are Advance Directives?
Advance directives are legal documents that allow you control end-of-life decisions ahead of time. These documents would be used if you were in a position due to illness or injury that would prevent you from speaking for yourself.
Advance directives allow you to determine ahead of time what treatments you would or would not want under specific circumstances such as permanent loss of consciousness or a terminal illness.
There are three main documents that comprise advance directives: living will, durable power of attorney for health care or health care proxy, and do not resuscitate orders. In fourteen states, there is also a legal document called POLST, or Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, that is an advance directive.
Advance directive laws vary from state to state; to find the information about advance directives in your state, visit Caring Connections.
Living Will
A living will is a document that allows you to direct what type of medical care and/or treatments that you would want used or not used if you were seriously injured or had a terminal illness.
Each state has its own laws about what is to be contained in this document and its use. You can access the information to any of the 50 states here.
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
The durable power of attorney for health care form, also referred to as a health care proxy, allows you to name the person you want making medical decisions on your behalf should you be unconscious or otherwise unable to make medical decisions.
Choosing the person or persons you want to name for this responsibility should be someone you trust, someone who understands your wishes and someone who accepts the responsibility.
If you have completed a living will, there will be few, if any, decisions the durable power of attorney for health care will need to make on your behalf. Still, the health care proxy can help to hold health care providers responsible for following the directions given on your living will.
Do Not Resuscitate Orders
Do not resuscitate tells health care providers that you do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, should your heart stop or you stop breathing. In the absence of this document -- or an order from your physician to do not resuscitate (DNR), health care personnel must perform CPR and other life-saving treatments.
Instead of the Do Not Resuscitate form signed by you, you can tell your physician if you do not want to receive CPR. The physician will sign an order on your medical chart alerting staff to your wishes.
Physician Orders For Life-Sustaining Treatment
According to the Herald-Tribune, 14 states currently have laws in place for POLST, or Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment; according to the California HealthCare Foundation, another 18 states are considering implementing such laws. To learn the status of POLST in your state, check here.
POLST is considered to be more comprehensive than a living will, addressing more specific situations and treatment choices. It is a legal document that patient and physician complete together and both individuals sign. The POLST then become part of the patient's medical record, ensuring the form will move through the health care system with the patient, something that a living will does not always do.
Considerations
Although you may think that advance directives are only for the senior members of the population, adults of all ages might want to consider completing the documents. Severe injuries or accidents may occur at any age; a life-threatening illness or condition is not limited only to the elderly.
Putting advance directives in place also relieves a burden on your family and loved ones in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury. No one will have to guess what care you may or may not want; you'll have taken the responsibility on your own shoulders by making those choices known yourself.
Sources: MedlinePlus; Advance Directives
FamilyDoctor.org; Advance Directives and Do Not Resuscitate Orders
U.S. Living Will Registry
Caring Connections; Planning Ahead
Herald-Tribune; Taking the Time to Get It Right on End-of-Life Care Wishes; Barbara Peters Smith; Nov. 21, 2011
California HealthCare Foundation: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
POLST.org: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Paradigm
Whether it is the influences of our youth-loving culture keeps people from completing advance directives or if it's the need to avoid thinking about illness and death, the choice to not make use of these legal documents prevents people from having control of that potential aspect of their lives. Perhaps a better understanding of what advance directives are -- and are not -- will remove some of the fear preventing some people from making use of these tools.
As Caring Connections explains, advance directives are not so much about how you want to die, but how you want to live.
What Are Advance Directives?
Advance directives are legal documents that allow you control end-of-life decisions ahead of time. These documents would be used if you were in a position due to illness or injury that would prevent you from speaking for yourself.
Advance directives allow you to determine ahead of time what treatments you would or would not want under specific circumstances such as permanent loss of consciousness or a terminal illness.
There are three main documents that comprise advance directives: living will, durable power of attorney for health care or health care proxy, and do not resuscitate orders. In fourteen states, there is also a legal document called POLST, or Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, that is an advance directive.
Advance directive laws vary from state to state; to find the information about advance directives in your state, visit Caring Connections.
Living Will
A living will is a document that allows you to direct what type of medical care and/or treatments that you would want used or not used if you were seriously injured or had a terminal illness.
Each state has its own laws about what is to be contained in this document and its use. You can access the information to any of the 50 states here.
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
The durable power of attorney for health care form, also referred to as a health care proxy, allows you to name the person you want making medical decisions on your behalf should you be unconscious or otherwise unable to make medical decisions.
Choosing the person or persons you want to name for this responsibility should be someone you trust, someone who understands your wishes and someone who accepts the responsibility.
If you have completed a living will, there will be few, if any, decisions the durable power of attorney for health care will need to make on your behalf. Still, the health care proxy can help to hold health care providers responsible for following the directions given on your living will.
Do Not Resuscitate Orders
Do not resuscitate tells health care providers that you do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, should your heart stop or you stop breathing. In the absence of this document -- or an order from your physician to do not resuscitate (DNR), health care personnel must perform CPR and other life-saving treatments.
Instead of the Do Not Resuscitate form signed by you, you can tell your physician if you do not want to receive CPR. The physician will sign an order on your medical chart alerting staff to your wishes.
Physician Orders For Life-Sustaining Treatment
According to the Herald-Tribune, 14 states currently have laws in place for POLST, or Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment; according to the California HealthCare Foundation, another 18 states are considering implementing such laws. To learn the status of POLST in your state, check here.
POLST is considered to be more comprehensive than a living will, addressing more specific situations and treatment choices. It is a legal document that patient and physician complete together and both individuals sign. The POLST then become part of the patient's medical record, ensuring the form will move through the health care system with the patient, something that a living will does not always do.
Considerations
Although you may think that advance directives are only for the senior members of the population, adults of all ages might want to consider completing the documents. Severe injuries or accidents may occur at any age; a life-threatening illness or condition is not limited only to the elderly.
Putting advance directives in place also relieves a burden on your family and loved ones in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury. No one will have to guess what care you may or may not want; you'll have taken the responsibility on your own shoulders by making those choices known yourself.
Sources: MedlinePlus; Advance Directives
FamilyDoctor.org; Advance Directives and Do Not Resuscitate Orders
U.S. Living Will Registry
Caring Connections; Planning Ahead
Herald-Tribune; Taking the Time to Get It Right on End-of-Life Care Wishes; Barbara Peters Smith; Nov. 21, 2011
California HealthCare Foundation: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
POLST.org: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Paradigm
Published by L.L. Woodard
Freelance writer/editor and freelance observer of life. Three decades of nursing experience in long-term care, from development of team care planning to hands-on patient care. View profile
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