Week 16-1: Advanced Directives
- What types of advanced directives exist? How do advanced directives impact care? What is the role of the AGACNP in filling out advanced directives and overall advanced care planning?
An advance directive can be described as a legal document that specifies how the patient wants medical choices concerning them made if they are unable to make them themselves (Morrison, 2020). Powers of attorney, living wills, and health care directives are the three most popular types of advance directives. An advance directive serves as a guide for the patient’s loved ones and medical staff when they must make these choices, or it designates who will act on the patient’s behalf if they are unable to do so. In certain medical situations, the patient’s care team may opt to take extra precautions or administer emergency care. With the use of an advance directive, the patient can plan and select the kind of treatment they want.
The AGACNP’s primary duty is to care for patients with severe, complex disorders. Advance care planning (ACP), which can occur at any stage in the healthcare continuum, refers to an intentional effort on the part of the AGACNP to involve patients in conversations about their values and beliefs for them to jointly determine priorities and establish healthcare preferences (Whitehead et al., 2022). Advanced directives, inclu
ding living wills, and a fully executed healthcare power of attorney are all examples of ways to record these preferences. The clinician may also make an ACP note in the patient’s electronic health record (EHR). AGACNPs can promote ACP conversations, assist patients and families, make sure that patient’s wishes are known, and offer resources for advance directives and end-of-life decisions.
- Address the bioethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, veracity, and justice as it applies to the care of patients and your practice as a nurse practitioner.
The NP must present all pertinent medical information and treatment alternatives for the patient to exercise self-determination. Respecting the autonomy principle also promotes truthfulness, integrity, and confidentiality (Atkinson Smith et al., 2020). Beneficence is typically defined in the context of medical ethics as a principle mandating that NP offer, and to the best possible standard, positive advantages like good health, and avoiding and treating dangerous illnesses in patients. Contrarily, the idea of nonmaleficence asserts that there is a duty not to injure other people. Nurse practitioners must uphold the principle of veracity, commonly known as truth-telling, in their interactions with patients. Finally, justice in bioethics refers to the notion that patients have a right to impartial, fair care.
References
Atkinson Smith, M., Torres, L., & Burton, T. C. (2020). Patient Rights at the End of Life. Professional Case Management, 25(2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1097/ncm.0000000000000392
Morrison, R. S. (2020). Advance directives/care planning: Clear, simple, and wrong. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 23(7). https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2020.0272
Whitehead, P., Frechman, E., Johnstone-Petty, M., Kates, J., Tay, D. L., DeSanto, K., & Fink, R. M. (2022). A scoping review of nurse-led advance care planning. Nursing Outlook, 70(1), 96–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.08.002
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Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
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Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- Student paper example
- Citing Sources
- The Writing Center is a great resource