Advance Care Planning In Nursing

Studies have shown that fewer than 50 percent of terminally ill patients had an advance directive. Of those patient who do had an advance directive, between 65 and 76 percent of physicians are unaware it exists (Benson and Aldrich, 2012). In my nursing practice, I have reviewed hundreds of charts in which patients with chronic end stage diseases are repeatedly admitted to the hospital with continual decline in health at each admission. Yet, advance care planning and the patient’s wishes for end of life (EOL) or palliative care needs are not discussed or review with the patients and/or families. After discharge from the hospital, the patient’s wishes are many times still not addressed at their follow up visits, and these patients will not