title: An analysis of common arguments against Advance Directives.
abstract: Advance Directives are under-utilized, both from the fact that few Americans have them and that health professionals don't always rely on Advance Directives provided by patients. Many health professionals have philosophical objections to their use. Using a fictitious case as background, five different objections to the use of Advance Directives will be discussed and arguments against those objections will be posed along with suggestions to improve Advance Directives.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente, 10990 San Diego Mission Rd. #100, San Diego, CA 92108, USA. marilyn.x.mitchell@kp.org
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003243:Consciousness; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000941:ethics; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D004645:Empathy / Q000941:ethics; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D016224:Living Wills / Q000941:ethics; D016743:Mental Competency; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D028723:Personhood; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012649:Self Concept; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States