Living Will: St. John's Berryville

WHAT IS AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE ( LIVING WILL)?

It is a legal document in which you tell others of your wishes (regarding health care decisions) if you are unable to speak for yourself and are terminally ill or unconscious. An advance directive is not a property will.

An advance directive/living will also allow you to name a person to speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself. This person is sometimes called an authorized decision maker, health care proxy, or a personal agent for health care . (Please note: a financial power of attorney does not necessarily authorize someone to make health care decisions.)

When the medical condition of the patient is such that there is little or nothing that medicine can do to reverse the disease process, the goal of the medical treatment is to help the patient be as comfortable and pain free as possible. This is what the person filling out the advance directive is essentially saying: "When medicine can't cure me, the disease process is advanced, and I am unable to communicate, then stop treating me aggressively and use all methods available to make sure I am comfortable, pain free, and taken care of in a compassionate manner."

The decision to place a no code order on the patient or to remove life support technology, such as a ventilator or artificial nutrition and hydration, does NOT mean abandoning the patient.

WHAT DO I DO WITH AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE ?

Please bring your advance directive with you each time you are hospitalized, just as you would bring your insurance card or Medicare card. Please give a copy to your doctor, your clergy and your family members so that they can discuss it with you if they wish. Put the advance directive in a place that it can be easily found . Someone close to you who would be likely to accompany you to the hospital should also have a copy. It is not a good idea to put it in a safety deposit box, or mail it to your doctor or hospital.

View and print a copy of The Advance Directive.

REMEMBER

IF you are involved in an emergency situation or have a heart attack you will still be treated aggressively until you are stabilized and an assessment of your condition is made.

The advance directive /living will take effect ONLY if you are terminal, or will die in a relatively short time, or are permanently unconscious. In an emergency situation not even the doctor may know if you are terminal. In any situation, only the physician(with your consent or the consent of your proxy or family) can write a medical order which stops treatment. The PURPOSE of the advanced directive is to make your wishes known so that a good decision can be made by your doctor and family as to when to stop certain treatments.

FOR INPATIENTS AT St. John's Hospital - Berryville

Your doctor is your best resource for discussing specific treatments, and he/she should always be informed of your decisions and concerns regarding your health care treatment.

There are other health care professionals available to assist you as well. For help preparing an advance directive, for blank copies of an advance directive, to make changes in a existing advance directive or for a booklet providing more detailed information regarding advance directives,please contact the charge nurse.

RELATED TERMINOLOGY

Artificial Feeding - If a patient is no longer able to swallow food, nourishment may be supplied through tubes inserted in the nose , through an incision in the abdomen or intravenously.
Artificial Ventilation - Machines which assist or control your breathing are called ventilators.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)- When the heart stops (cardiac arrest), special measures may be used to try to restart the heart. CPR includes the use of heart massage, intravenous medications and electrical shock. Your advance directive may direct that any or all of these not be used.

PATIENT SELF- DETERMINATION ACT
Patient self-determination refers to the right of competent adults to make their own medical treatment decisions and includes the right to execute advance directives, saying how and/or by whom decisions should be made in the event the person later becomes incapacitated and unable to make his or her own decisions.

PSDA 90
The Patient Self- Determination Act of 1990 is Public Law 101-508, Sections 4206 and 4651. It was enacted November 5, 1990 as part of OBRA , the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, and takes effect on December 1, 1991.

St. John's Hospital - Berryville 214 Carter Street Berryville, AR 72616 870-423-3355 800-827-3355 inf@stjohnsberryville.com