Healthcare Assignment: Exploring Advance Directives and Their Impact

This assignment explores the topic of advance directives in healthcare, focusing on the student's personal experience with obtaining and completing the necessary forms. The student obtained the forms from the hospital's documentation department and discusses the accessibility of the documents, highlighting the challenges faced and the potential difficulties for older adults. The assignment delves into the benefits of advance directives for the family and healthcare team, emphasizing the peace of mind they provide. The student also shares the reaction of the person they discussed the directives with, and how the exercise has changed their understanding of the importance of these documents, particularly in end-of-life care. The assignment concludes with a reference to relevant literature on ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care.

Running head: HEALTH CARE
Health care
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1HEALTH CARE
Where did you obtain your advance directive forms? How accessible were the
documents?
I obtained advanced directive form from documentation department of the hospital. It
was not easily accessible as I had to explain the reason behind taking such form and show
relevant proofs too.
If you had to get them from someone else, did they have them readily
available? Did they know what you wanted?
Since, I had taken the documents from hospital where such situation arises on a daily
basis, the directive form was readily available. However, getting the same directive from some
other place would be difficult. In such case, it might be possible that the concerned staff may
have no knowledge regarding what an advanced directive is and they may be clueless about the
source of such documents too.
How difficult do you think it would be for a an older adult who is a layman (non
nurse) to obtain and complete these forms?
It would be difficult for an older man to obtain and complete this form because of poor
knowledge about key terms or language used in the form. They may face issues in understanding
different directive and putting the right response. Certain legal terms may be confusing or
language issues may a barrier for them. In such situation, help from family or legal staffs would
be needed to complete such forms.

2HEALTH CARE
Comment on the benefits of such forms for your family or the healthcare team in
determining what you would want if you couldn’t speak for yourself.
The main benefit of an advanced directive is that since it is straight forward document, it
would minimize my stress and give my family piece of mind. My communication regarding the
treatment I want or do want would minimize challenges both for health care team as well as my
family. I feel this because I trust the person whom I have given advanced directive.
What was the reaction of the person with whom you discussed your advance
directives? Did the reaction surprise you?
I discussed the advanced directive with my physician. He was very supportive during the
discussion because he clearly understood what it feels like to experience pain in the last moment
of life.
How have your knowledge and opinion of advance directives changed as a result
of this exercise?
After completing this exercise, I got to know that advanced directive is a great source of mental
peace for people who are incapacitated. It gives them the freedom to express their wished
regarding treatment. It motivates the person at the end of life to make a living will related to the
type of treatment they desire (Karnik & Kanekar, 2016, June). More people should be educated
about the benefit of this document.

3HEALTH CARE
References:
Karnik, S., & Kanekar, A. (2016, June). Ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care: a narrative
review. In Healthcare(Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 24). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.