In accordance to federal law, the two hospitals in Joplin, Missouri, Mercy and Freeman Health System, have conducted individual advance directive education procedures for many years. These procedures have not been thoroughly analyzed with a comprehensive list that indicates advised properties and methods of communication and education an advance directive education procedure should practice. This has not occurred because a comprehensive list has not been developed. However, research focusing on challenges of advance directives does provide possible solutions and recommendations, but has not been gathered or used to analyze a hospital’s advance directive education procedure. The creation of a comprehensive list could be used as a guideline for
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Before the PSDA was initiated into federal law, in 1991 less than 18 percent of adults in the United States of America had a completed advance directive (Stein & Fineberg, 2013). In 23 years, completion rates increased by less than 10 percent. These numbers have denoted that despite the efforts of the PSDA, completion rates remain low. This further indicates that there is a flaw in the advance directive completion procedure. Research revealed many discrepancies within the education of advance directives, causing the low rate. Of these, the most common include heath care professionals informing only critically ill patients of the existence and purpose of an advance directive, information given on advance directives are not understood by patients, and procedures to properly complete an advance directive are not taught (Campbell, Edwards, Ward, & Weatherby,2007). A key role and responsibility for nurses and other health care providers is to ensure patient’s have an opportunity to learn about and complete an advance directive, as well as to have any of their questions answered (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). If a patient had not been made aware of the presence of advance directives or given the opportunity to understand the document better, nurses and other health care providers could be held responsible for not educating a patient to the fullest extent, failing this responsibility. With the presence of education discrepancies within current advance directive education procedures, this has become a reality that this project may be able to
Before the PSDA was initiated into federal law, in 1991 less than 18 percent of adults in the United States of America had a completed advance directive (Stein & Fineberg, 2013). In 23 years, completion rates increased by less than 10 percent. These numbers have denoted that despite the efforts of the PSDA, completion rates remain low. This further indicates that there is a flaw in the advance directive completion procedure. Research revealed many discrepancies within the education of advance directives, causing the low rate. Of these, the most common include heath care professionals informing only critically ill patients of the existence and purpose of an advance directive, information given on advance directives are not understood by patients, and procedures to properly complete an advance directive are not taught (Campbell, Edwards, Ward, & Weatherby,2007). A key role and responsibility for nurses and other health care providers is to ensure patient’s have an opportunity to learn about and complete an advance directive, as well as to have any of their questions answered (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). If a patient had not been made aware of the presence of advance directives or given the opportunity to understand the document better, nurses and other health care providers could be held responsible for not educating a patient to the fullest extent, failing this responsibility. With the presence of education discrepancies within current advance directive education procedures, this has become a reality that this project may be able to