Advance directive - How To Discuss

Advance directive,

Definition of Advance directive:

  1. A written statement of a persons wishes regarding medical treatment, often including a living will, made to ensure those wishes are carried out should the person be unable to communicate them to a doctor.

  2. An advance directive is a living will documenting one’s wishes for end-of-life medical treatment. The document instructs whether dialysis, breathing machines or tube feeding are desired, whether to resuscitate and whether to donate organs and tissue at the end of one's life. Planning ahead provides the medical care a person desires and avoids unnecessary suffering, disagreements and decision-making burdens during times of crisis. Two physicians must certify the person is terminally ill, seriously injured, in a coma, in the late stages of dementia or permanently unconscious and unable to make medical decisions before the living will is enacted.

  3. An advance directive, sometimes called a living will, is a document expressing a person's wishes about critical care when they are unable to decide for themselves. With an advance directive, individuals have the power to make future decisions about their own critical care without outside influence. A person who wishes or does not wish to be placed on life support can create an advance directive that hospital staff will follow should the person become incapacitated.

  4. A legal document providing detailed instructions regarding an individuals final wishes. In the event the individual is not physically or mentally able to relay their wishes, the advance directive informs medical professionals what, if any, treatments or procedures will be permitted. Also know as a living will.

How to use Advance directive in a sentence?

  1. Other issues that need to be addressed with patients and caregivers include advance directives, the living will and the durable power of attorney.

Meaning of Advance directive & Advance directive Definition

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