Advanced Directives
Health Care Institutional Organization and Management
Individual Paper #2
June 25, 2006
Imagine laying in a hospital intensive care unit critically injured, unconscious, yet fully aware of your surroundings but unable to interact. Imagine hearing your family discussing with the doctors your slim potential for recovery or insurance coverage running out and you can not articulate your wishes to continue treatment. In a situation like this, advanced directives provide the hospital, the staff, and your family the necessary guidance to authorize the use or withdraw of medical procedures. According to the Federal Patient Self Determination Act of 1990, advanced directives are "an individual 's rights under State law to make decisions concerning such medical care, including the right to accept or refuse medical or surgical treatment" and such directives will ensure that the patient 's wishes are followed to either conduct procedures to save your life or no procedures to allow you to pass on. In either case, advanced directives are an extremely important step in patient health care in providing quality service to the patient and relieving the physician from liability if some people do not agree with the advanced directives. Advance directives also assist the hospital staff in making the correct and ethical decision for the patient. In these critical situations, there are "ethical duties that physicians owe to their patients: the obligation to respect a competent patient 's right to refuse medical treatment in accordance with his/her own values and beliefs the obligation to engage in a process of communication that adequately prepares the patient to make an informed decision". The process of creating advanced directives provides the patient the communication to make an informed decision, which also allows the physician to make an ethical decision. Though advanced directives seem fairly "cut and dry", there are some problems. Many patients who
Individual Paper #2
June 25, 2006
Imagine laying in a hospital intensive care unit critically injured, unconscious, yet fully aware of your surroundings but unable to interact. Imagine hearing your family discussing with the doctors your slim potential for recovery or insurance coverage running out and you can not articulate your wishes to continue treatment. In a situation like this, advanced directives provide the hospital, the staff, and your family the necessary guidance to authorize the use or withdraw of medical procedures. According to the Federal Patient Self Determination Act of 1990, advanced directives are "an individual 's rights under State law to make decisions concerning such medical care, including the right to accept or refuse medical or surgical treatment" and such directives will ensure that the patient 's wishes are followed to either conduct procedures to save your life or no procedures to allow you to pass on. In either case, advanced directives are an extremely important step in patient health care in providing quality service to the patient and relieving the physician from liability if some people do not agree with the advanced directives. Advance directives also assist the hospital staff in making the correct and ethical decision for the patient. In these critical situations, there are "ethical duties that physicians owe to their patients: the obligation to respect a competent patient 's right to refuse medical treatment in accordance with his/her own values and beliefs the obligation to engage in a process of communication that adequately prepares the patient to make an informed decision". The process of creating advanced directives provides the patient the communication to make an informed decision, which also allows the physician to make an ethical decision. Though advanced directives seem fairly "cut and dry", there are some problems. Many patients who
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