What is an advance medical directives and why it is very important?
All persons have rights. When you become ill, you as a client or patient have rights.
These includes:
- The right to privacy – your personal and medical information is confidential. Medical records and communications with your physician must be kept private.
- The right for informed consent – your physician must clearly explain the advantages and disadvantages as well as risks of any procedures, tests or treatments. You must give your permission to such care. You have the right to refuse any treatment.
- The right to information about your condition. You must be kept up to date about your medical condition, treatments and chances for recovery.
- The right to information about advance directives. In most cases, advance directives and your rights as a patient must be explained to you.
Advance Directives can protect people in extreme conditions. These people may be unable to communicate due to a condition such as irreversible brain damage or brain disease which can affect their ability to think as well as communicate. People can benefit from Advance Directives if they have permanent coma or other unconscious states that can leave someone unconscious and without hope for recovery. Advance Directives also is used when you have terminal illness or a condition from which a person is expected to die within a short period of time.
With Advance Directives, you can direct health care providers to limit life prolonging measures when there’s little or no chance of recovery. For example, advance directives may enable patients to make their feelings known about the following:
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The procedure used to restore stopped breathing and/or heartbeat.
- Intravenous (IV) Therapy. This is used to provide food, water, and/or medication through a tube placed in a vein.
- Feeding Tubes – are inserted through the nose or stomach to provide nutrition.
- Respirators – are machines used to keep patients breathing
- Dialysis – is a method of cleaning patients’ blood by machine when kidneys no longer work properly.
2 Types of Advance Directives are:
- Living Wills – are written instructions that explain your wishes regarding health care should you have a terminal condition.
- Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care – is a written document where you can name a person (called proxy) to make decisions for you if you become unable to do so.
More about Advance Directives on next week posting.
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