Advance Care Planning for Aging Patients

This assignment delves into the significance of advance care planning (ACP) for aging patients. It examines the ethical principles guiding ACP, highlighting patient autonomy and informed consent. The document analyzes relevant Australian legislation supporting ACP, including the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 and the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006. Furthermore, it discusses the benefits of ACP for both patients and healthcare professionals, emphasizing reduced distress, improved quality of care, and enhanced patient satisfaction.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Nursing Assignment
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Authors note:

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
An ethical dilemma is a problem that occurs when an individual tries to decide between
two activities but none of them is able to resolve the issue in an appropriate way (Ball et al.,
2013). A large number of people are aware of how to keep them healthy when they age. But, a
majority of individuals lack knowledge and do not have any information about how to proceed
with it. Advance care planning (ACP) is a process in which the patients, his family members and
doctors and the nursing staff work according to the wishes of their patients. They make sure that,
the health care services are delivered to them according to their requirements. This assignment
demonstrates the significance of using ACP/ACD for individuals who are ageing.
Ethics is defined as the values and beliefs possessed by the individuals. It also includes
the code of conduct in any organization by the employees and the workers. There are several
ethical principles in ACP/ACD in individuals who are ageing and are at End of Life (EOL).
These include Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence and Justice (Lehne & Rosenthal,
2014). Autonomy involves respecting the decisions and choice made by the patients by the
nursing staff, clinicians and the doctors and working according to them(Daly, Speedy &
Jackson, 2017).They should keep in mind that they are also humans and have the right to choose
according to their wishes. Non-maleficence means that the nurses should ensure safety of the
patients during providing treatment. They should be pro- active and be responsible towards their
patients. Beneficience means that the doctors and the nursing staff should be dedicated and must
work efficiently to provide health care services to their patients (Staunton and Chiarella
2016).Justice means that the nurses should not be partial should not discriminate their patients in
providing quality services. It is important to acknowledge and work according to the wishes of
old patients as it forms a major part of ethical care. Decision making at End-of-life care plays a
significant role due to advanced development in healthcare science. The Code of Ethics has been

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
developed in Australia for the nursing profession. The main aim of this code is that the nurses
should provide proper care and affection in order to connect well with the patient. It helps in
building trusting relationship with the patient. According to the code of ethics, the nursing staff
and doctors should work with empathy and courteousness while providing health services to
them especially old patients (Epstein & Turner, 2015).They should be well competent and should
have knowledge about all the nursing techniques in their profession.
Advance care planning requires effective communication between the patients, their
family members, and their clinicians. It is done efficiently after considering the relationships,
culture and background of age old patients. It will play a significant role in deciding appropriate
medical treatment procedure which can be recorded in an advance directive (AD).The main
objective of using ACP is to make sure that ageing patients receive quality care by following the
principles of ethics.
There has been a significant increase in the need of efficient advance directives
(AD).This is because people are living longer but they are not able to lead a life of good quality.
They suffer from various health issues and problems as they age and want to go for a medical
treatment procedure according to their choice. Hence, it is very important for all the patients who
are old to form an AD which will definitely help him or her in taking effective decisions. This
will benefit them when they reach a period when they are not able to take proper decisions about
themselves. Hence, it becomes important that advanced directives is updated regularly as the
medical needs for old aged patients changes with time because it depends on the condition of
their health (Murray wt al., 2015).

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
The Government of Victoria has decided to provide statutory recognition of advance
care directives so that the old age patients can document and record preferences for the treatment
of medical ailments in the present and the future .It involves several acts which are as follows:
The Medical Treatment Act 1988
This act enables an old aged patient to deny the entire or a some part of the medical treatment
for the current health condition .It also involves appointing a person in order to take important
decisions for the patient and is given a medical enduring power of attorney.
The Guardian and Administration Act 1986:
This act allows a patient to appoint an enduring decision maker to make appropriate decisions
related to medical treatment on his or her behalf. It allows VCAT to provide a guardian for a
patient who is not able to make proper judgments related to their personal situations or issues.
The guardian appointed can consent to medical treatment on the behalf of the patient who is not
capable to do by himself (Carney, 2012).
The Powers of Attorney Act 2014
Te main objective of this act is to provide new role of supportive attorney and the consolidation
and clarification of the power of attorney (financial treatment) and enduring power of
guardianship. It improves the legislative protections offered to people from the abuse of enduring
powers of attorney (Kass-Bartelmes & Hughes, 2014).
The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006
According to this act, the public authorities including public health services act in compatibility
with and provide proper importance to human rights.

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Advance care planning plays a significant role in ensuring that the old aged patients
receive proper care according to their wishes and demands. The main aim of ACP is that it
provides support and guidance to the patient and his family members and reduces their burden
(Detering et al., 2015).
Hence it can be concluded that it ACP plays a significant role in providing quality care
to patients.It also helps in reducing distress among the health care professionals. It reduces the
duration of hospitalization at the end of life and increases the utilization of health care services in
the hospital. It provides patients and their family members quality satisfaction and promotes
communication between the patient and the clinicians.

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NURSING ASSIGNMENT
References
Ball, J. E., Murrells, T., Rafferty, A. M., Morrow, E., & Griffiths, P. (2013). ‘Care left
undone’during nursing shifts: associations with workload and perceived quality of
care. Quality and Safety in Health Care, bmjqs-2012.
Carney, T. (2014). Guardianship,“social” citizenship and theorising substitute decision-making
law. In Beyond Elder Law (pp. 1-17). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Daly, J., Speedy, S., & Jackson, D. (2017). Contexts of nursing: An introduction. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Detering, K.M., Hancock, A.D., Reade, M.C. and Silvester, W., 2015. The impact of advance
care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomised controlled
trial. Bmj, 340, p.c1345.
Epstein, B., & Turner, M. (2015). The nursing code of ethics: Its value, its history. OJIN: The
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 20(2).
Kass-Bartelmes, B. L., & Hughes, R. (2014). Advance care planning: preferences for care at the
end of life. Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy, 18(1), 87-109.
Lehne, R. A., & Rosenthal, L. (2014). Pharmacology for Nursing Care-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Murray, S. A., Kendall, M., Boyd, K., & Sheikh, A. (2015). Illness trajectories and palliative
care. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 330(7498), 1007.