Advance Directive Essay

The purpose of proceed takes is so that you atomic number 18 making it your proper(ip) to turn decisions ab let on your own health check checkup c ar. This phrase applies to a grand range of instructions that one might rack up or on the wholey or scripted about actions that one would or would non want to be taken if one were somehow incapacitated and un up to(p) to join in making decisions (Corr et al, 2009). An put up directing is a topic that resonates strongly in my heart. Less than two weeks ago my economise and I had a family crisis and had to make some really difficult health c be decisions regarding our family member. These decisions were less difficult for us because our love one had previously given us major power-of-attorney. So we knew her wishes previous to her illness and were able to make the correct decisions as a family. Unfortunately, intimately families dont realize the importance of this legal document until an fatality occurs.Authors of _Death &am p Dying, flavor & Living_ identify six goals of cobblers last education. It is the third gear goal that will be the focus of my paper. According to Corr et al the third goal of death education is to prepare individuals for their public roles as citizens. In this way, death education helps to clarify consequential social issues that face nightspot and its representatives, such as advance guidings in health apprehension (Corr et al, 2009). We distri yetively pee the well(p) and responsibility to make healthcare decisions for ourselves. There whitethorn be a time, whether from accident or illness, when you are no long-run able to make important and necessary medical decisions. This is an opportunity for you to bring your wishes and direct your healthcare decisions in advance ahead they may be needed.Were musical accompaniment in an age of medical miracles. Tiny babies innate(p) months too early can often be saved. Hearts, lungs kidneys and lives can all e transp lanted. There are life support machines and devices for almost for each one purpose. Ventilators to help population breath, cardiac assist devices to take over for the heart, eating tubes to nourish patients who cant eat, and dialysis to support people with failing kidneys. My husband and I know this all too well with the recent diagnosis of his mformer(a).Medical advances turn over saved many lives. But with these advances have set questions about using machines to prolong the natural expiry carry through. Kentucky laws screw the refine of individuals to make pickings about their medical care. We have the right to request or refuse sermon and to take up that life prolonging interference be stopped. We alike have the right to make out an advance directive. An advance directive is a legal paper which lets an individual to plead their wishes about the use of life support machines and medical treatment. It can also be used to name someone else to make medical choices f or them if they incur unable to speak for themselves (ccky.org, 2010 Jasper 2007).According to David Kelly author of _Medical Care at the turn back of Life A Catholic Perspective_ claims that treatment can be chastely extraordinary just when the persons death is imminent, regardless of whether the treatment is given, is to give biological life itself an absolute value that supersedes all new(prenominal) values. (Kelly, 2006).The decision to make an advance directive is individual(prenominal) one and should merely be made after careful consideration. My mother-in-law is circulating(prenominal)ly on respectable life support and the hospital social worker told us that because she is at a Catholic hospital their philosophy there is that withholding or withdrawing treatment does non cause death, but merely allows the natural process of dying to take place. They further stated that they will not do anything to intentionally cause her death. This was an impromptu interview, but I was able to ask the social worker a few questions regarding advance directives.HOSPITAL societal WORKER INTERVIEWQ What is an advance directive?A procession directive states in writing your choices about medical care or label someone to make medical choices for you if you fetch unable to speak for yourself. It is called an advance directive, because it is signed in advance to let your family and doctor know your wishes regarding medical treatment. Kentucky law recognizes many types of advances directives, including lifetime wills, healthcare surrogate designations, and durable power of attorney for healthcare.Q Do my mother-in-law or anyone else have to have an advance directive before treatment here at this hospital? (Keep in listen its a catholic hospital)A No. You cannot be infallible to make any advance directives in orders to get medical treatment, and for that proposition health insurance or any other reason. It s stringently a matter of personal choice.Q butt anyon e in my mother-in-laws family make healthcare choices for her if she unable to do so and we do not have an advance directive or do you all go by the oldest child?A If she cannot speak for herself and there is not an advance directive, and then according to the state of Kentucky laws its first the court appointed guardian her partner her adult child and if there is more than one then its the majority of the adult children available at the time her parents and then the adjacent living relative and if there is more than one then its the majority of them (unnamed social worker, 2010).According to the state of Kentucky adults (ages 18 or older) who are mentally competent have the right to make healthcare decisions in advance. climb directives state your choices for medical treatment, especially in regard to life-sustaining procedures. You can also use advance directives to name a healthcare component, who is any person you subscribe to, to make your healthcare decisions if you are unable to do so. Advance Directives yet apply if you are unable to make personal medical decisions, unless you indicate you want your healthcare agents countenance to begin when the document is signed. You cannot be refused medical care because you do not have advance directives (Jasper, 2007).Any time you have a healthcare need your doctor should discuss your situation with you and obtain your consent before giving you care. Patients have the right to refuse treatment or to choose among different kinds of treatment. Patients may further leave the hospital or test treatment and opinions from other healthcare providers. Making a responsible choice does not always immoral you accept your doctors advice, but it does mean you understand the consequences of your choice. This right to decide to say yes or no to treatment includes consenting to, or refusing treatments needed to sustain life (Shannon, 2006).I use to believe that once you signed the back of the drivers license then you were giving consent for hospitals to not give you the received care that you deserved. This was a myth that I always believed until I became adult. I think that it was based on those old horror movies like swooning back in the 1970s. From a recent lecture on bounty I learned the real value of signing the back of the drivers licenses and giving consent to organ donation.Organ transplants are in truth a miracle of modern medicine. Thousands of organ transplants occur in the United States each year, yet thousands of people also die each year turn waiting for an organ. The generous clothe of ones organs or weaves can allow other seriously ill individuals to live. During this lecture I learned that anyone could become an organ donor and age did not mean that you cant necessary donate. Most importantly was that signing a donor card was not going to affect my care that I received from the hospital. Patients are given the same quality care, whether or not a donor card was signed and that donation proceedings only begin after all efforts to save my life had been done and my death had been declared. Now I feel confident that signing my drivers license will not enhance my death.The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family function Long-Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO), along with other national, state and community organizations, is leading an effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16th as the inaugural interior(a) healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) (http//www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org, 2010).Despite the fact that the importance and benefits of advance directives have been turn out repeatedly for many years, only a small minority of Americans have executed an advance directive, according to information on the National health care Decisions Day (NHDD) website. NHDD seeks to address this issue by focusing attention on advance healthcare planning from a variet y of directions simultaneously across the United States. Any number of professionals such as healthcare providers, chaplains, attorneys, and long care ombudsmen can provide clear, concise, and consistent information and tools for executing written advance directives about healthcare power of attorney and/or living will in accordance with state laws (http//www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org, 2010).In closing, most people cant read your mind when youre healthy, let exclusively try to figure out your wishes during a major health crisis art object under additional stress. Be kind to your loved ones make those decisions in advance and have them legally documented.NATIONAL healthcare DECISION dayPRESS RELEASEDO YOU HAVE AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE?Do you know what healthcare treatments you would and would not want if you could not speak for yourself? Do other people know what your wishes are? The 2nd Annual National Healthcare Decision Day will be held on Friday, April 16, 2010, a d ay for all people regardless of age or current health to be reminded of the importance of making their healthcare wishes known to loved ones and their care providers.Everyone is encouraged to voice their wishes and take steps to ensure that their choices are known and protected. An Advance Directive is a legal document that tells healthcare providers who it is that you wish to make medical decisions for you and what treatments you would want or not want, if you are ever not able to tell care providers what you would want in a medical emergency or life-limiting illness. The simple act of creating an Advance Directive can turn out to be an incredible gift for loved ones in the event of an accident or severe illness.Advance Directives are written instructions about your future medical care. They do not go into effect until you are no longer able to make decisions. Adults can benefit from thinking about what their healthcare choices would be if they were unable to speak for themselves.A DVANCE DIRECTIVES COME IN TWO briny FORMSA _HEALTHCARE POWER OF ATTORNEY_ (or proxy or agent or surrogate) documents the person you select to be your voice for your healthcare decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. Your healthcare power of attorney will make medical decisions based on your wishes identified in your Advance Directive. In states that recognize these documents, families and healthcare providers cannot override your living will or your agents decision. It is a good idea to discuss your wishes with your fri terminals, family members, and your doctor, now, while you still can.YOUR HEALTHCARE AGENT HAS TO MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS Anyone over the age of 18 Can be a family member, loved one, or close friend individual who you trust, knows you well, will advocate on your behalf, and will honor your wishesA _ sustenance WILL_ documents what kinds of medical treatments you would or would not want at the end of life. A living will is a type of advance directive called a healthcare treatment directive. A living will spells out the measures you do and do not wish to have taken to legislate your life when you are clearly dying. You may decide whether or not you would want breathing machines, feeding tubes, oxygen, IV fluids, or medicines to be used. A living will needs to be signed in strawman of a witness. A witness cannot be a relative, creditors and heirs to your estate, or your doctor. It is important that a living will cover decisions about your healthcare only when you have a terminal illness. It is better to prepare a living will when you are healthy, not when you have been ill or in the hospital.Make sure your Advance Directive reflects your wishes. If you plan on move to another state make sure you update your Advance Directive, because it may not be valid in the state that you move to. well-nigh states do not recognize living wills that have been drafted in other states. Your Advance Directive does not expire and can be updated a s needed. It is important for your family members to know your wishes in case of an emergency. Also, you should take a write of your Advance Directive to the hospital whenever you are admitted so that it can become a permanent part of your medical record.REFERENCE LISTCatholic Conference of Kentucky. (2010). Catholic conference of Kentucky. Retrieved from http//ccky.org/Corr, C. A., Nabe, C.M., & Corr, D. M. (2009). Death and Dying Life and Living (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA Cengage LearningJasper, M. C. (2007). Health care directives. Dobbs Ferry, NY OceanaPublicationsKelly, D. F. (2006). Medical care at the end of life A Catholic perspective. Washington, DC Georgetown University pack togetherNational Healthcare Decision Day. (2010). Fact Sheet retrieved November 29, 2010 from http//www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org/Shannon, J. B. (2006). Death and dying sourcebook Basic consumer health information about end-of-life care and related perspectives and estimable issues, includin g end-of-life symptoms and treatments, pain management, quality-of-life concerns, the use of life support, patients rights and privacy issues, advance directives, physician-assisted suicide, caregiving, organ and tissue donation, autopsies, funeral arrangements, and grief along with statistical data, information about the leading causes of death, a glossary, and directories of support groups and other resources. Detroit, MI Omnigraphics.