Advance directives.
Different types of advance directives invite varying interpretation from emergency care professionals. As informed consent of a patient is not always possible to procure in emergency situations, advance directives can provide useful guidelines for clinicians' decision-making processes regarding individual patient care. Specifically communicated instructions establish a course of aggressive or nonaggressive treatment, while general wishes leave the emergency department physician to assume an innate understanding of individual patients while undertaking an active role in decision-making for that patient's care. This article explores the relationship between advance care directives and the emergency department.
Sanders
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Department of Surgery, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, USA.
D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency; D018579:Patient Selection; D010819:Physician's Role