I understand the magnitude of importance Five Wishes in guiding healthcare decisions in case a patient becomes seriously ill and in no capacity to make decisions on their own. The Five Wishes recommends that a patient makes the decision on the specific person that they wish to make decisions on their behalf when they become incapacitated (Wickersham, Gowin, Deen & Nagykaldi, 2019). As a patient, my second wish would be the specific type of medication that I prefer to be used on me and such that I do not want whenever I am unable to make such a decision. My third wish would be the level of comfort I want for myself when I become seriously ill. My fourth wish would be how I want to be treated by people, including friends and family members. Finally, I would also wish to decide on the information that I would like to be disclosed to my loved ones when I am in no condition to make that decision.
The Kentucky Advance Directives is divided into three different sections; all which define the decision making in the case a patient becomes seriously ill. The first section gives a patient the legal opportunity to choose a surrogate who shall make decisions on the patient’s behalf whenever they become incapacitated and unable to make medical decisions on their own. Section 2 empowers a patient to make the five wishes on medical care which shall be adhered to by doctors and other healthcare practitioners in case a patient becomes terminally ill and unable to make decisions. The final section of the Kentucky Advance Directives allows the patient to authorize donation of all or any part of their body to another individual or institution in the event that they die.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The laws on Kentucky advance insists on a witness on the directive and such must do so by appending their signatures on the advance directives document. Notable, certain people including blood relatives, beneficiaries under the State distribution of statutes, an employee of the hospital and a person in charge of paying the patient’s medical bills all cannot act as witnesses to the advance directives (Vincent, 2019). The Kentucky Advance Directives is put in writing, and the patient can include additional personal instructions to guide the surrogate in decision making. Additional own directives may be in the form of refusal to a specific drug or a particular kind of treatment and are meant to ensure that the surrogate makes major decisions from the wishes of a patient. The Kentucky law also allows the patient to revoke the advance directives by verbally denouncing the intention to revoke the document and physically destroying the document. It is also important to note that the Kentucky laws do not honor an advance directive of an expectant mother.
As a nurse, I am in a better position to advise my patients on the specific wishes they can include on the advance directive. For patients and loved ones who may not be ready for this, I will be in a position to guide them and inform them of the importance of the procedure. Patients should be informed of the importance of an advanced directive and its necessity in case of special care. Firstly, advance directives enable the loved ones of a patient to have a piece of mind and stay away from worrying since everything including decisions on the patient’s healthcare will be in the hands of a person of sound mind. Specifically, the document reduces stress that may be developed by the patient’s loved ones. The document is also important because it minimizes the instances of conflict among family members who may have divergent opinions on certain decisions on the patient’s medical care.
In my practicum site, I was one time tasked with the responsibility to care for a frail elderly patient diagnosed with lung cancer and one who had to make his own decisions. The health condition of the patient did not compromise their capacity to make a decision regarding their health and medical treatment. From my own observation, the cancer medication posed adverse effects on the elderly patient, prompting certain decisions to be made on the specific type of medication to be administered to the patient. Notably, the elderly patient was deemed capacitated to make his own decisions on medical care, and no assumption was to be made on their capacity to make decisions (Myers et al., 2017). In as much as the treatment was projected to be beneficial to the patient, it deteriorated the patient’s quality of life.
The patient who was 80, made specific wishes and an advanced directive was involved. The patient appointed his eldest son as the surrogate, who was tasked with making decisions in the case the patient would become terminally ill. The patient’s wishes mainly revolved around making decisions that would make him spend more time in with his family rather than spending it at the hospital. The directive specifically said no to particular treatments such as surgery and advanced chemotherapy. Perhaps, the patient was expecting his death and did not want his family to spend many resources in his treatment. The decisions that the patient made were mainly influenced by the love of his family. To the contrary, the family members and close friends wanted the oncologist to offer the best medication to the patient, yet the patient thought it was pointless. The patient was determined and was somehow waiting for his death, hence wished that he spent his last days with his loved ones.
References
Myers, J. M., Duthie Jr, E., Denson, K., Denson, S., & Simpson, D. (2017). What can a primary care physician discuss with older patients to improve advance directive completion rates? A Clin-IQ. Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews , 4 (1), 42-45.
Vincent, A. T. (2019). Advance Directives in Primary Care.
Wickersham, E., Gowin, M., Deen, M. H., & Nagykaldi, Z. (2019). Improving the adoption of advance directives in primary care practices. J Am Board Fam Med , 32 (2), 168-179.
