Advance Directives: Living Wills and Durable Power of Attorney

Life support, vents, and feeding tubes, does your family know what you would want if you were seriously injured? For most people the answer is no. To make matters more complicated, many people who have serious or life threatening injurys are young. One can only imagine a distraught parent trying to decide whether or not to put their child on life support. This article should help educate you on some of the terms associated with Advance Directives, Power of Attorney and Living Wills.

Advance Directive
What is an advance directive? It is a simple document that states your wishes in regards to life sustaining measures. It can be hard for some people to chose an advance directive. Not all religions support letting go of life, and sometimes family members want to be able to make decisions regarding the care of their loved one. Most elderly people have advance directives. I rarely see a nursing home patient who does not have an advance directive. The nursing home generally will send a resident to the hospital with a copy of their advance directives so that hospital staff knows what life substaining measures the resident wants, or does not want. In most cases the resident is a DNR, or do not recessitate. There are others who want everything possibly done to sustain their life, and they deserve to get every heroic measure if that is what they want. This document can help a family make decisions regarding their relative without the feelings of guilt associated with not doing enough. An advance directive should be placed on a clients chart when seeking medical care, so always bring a copy on admission.