Simple brochure spells out patients' rights
Simple brochure spells out patients' rights
When two hospitals merged to become Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita, KS, one of the newly formed organization's goals was to produce a concise yet comprehensive brochure outlining patients' rights in the health care environment, says Diana Waddell, MSM, CHAM, ACHA, director of admissions and emergency room registration.
"We were looking for something user-friendly that had everything a patient would need in one brochure," Waddell says. "We wanted to make sure we had a uniform, united front on all this."
Although the organization's different facilities had their own advance directive materials, none had a simple tool that walked the patient through the steps if a living will needed to be completed on the spot, she says.
Social workers, nurses, chaplains, admissions personnel, and physicians, working closely with the organization's legal counsel, combined efforts to design such a brochure, Waddell says. After "a lot of pain and effort," they produced To Help You Decide, an eight-page booklet written in simple language in large type. It begins by encouraging the patient to ask questions about any aspect of the health care process and devotes a page each to the following issues:
o Informed consent.
This section begins with a simple definition of informed consent and lists several questions the patient might ask when considering a recommended procedure or treatment:
1. What is wrong with me?
2. What will be done to me?
3. What are the consequences with or without the given treatment or procedure?
4. What are the risks involved in a given treatment/procedure?
5. What are the benefits?
6. How long will it take for recovery?
o Life support.
This section describes the different life-support systems, pointing out that some are used to help people through illnesses and to return them to good health. It also explains, without taking a point of view, the options available when there's no chance of survival.
o Code Blue.
This section describes the different measures that may be taken when a person's heart or lungs suddenly stop working. It explains that this extraordinary effort may seem futile in some cases, and a patient has the option of having his or her physician issue a "Do Not Resuscitate" order to be used in the event of such a situation.
o Advance directives.
This section references the federal law requiring patients to be given information about advance directives and explains the two most common ones: a "living will" and "durable power of attorney for health care" (DPAHC). On the next two pages, those documents are detailed in easy-to-understand language, with clear instructions on how to prepare them and the accompanying responsibilities.
For example, the brochure points out several circumstances whereby power to make a decision can be granted in a DPAHC, including the power to make decisions, give consent, and refuse or withdraw consent for organ donation, autopsy, or the treatment of a physical or mental condition.
The brochure goes on to explain that - unless otherwise indicated - the DPAHC allows the patient's agent to make decisions about withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in all types of illnesses. It is not limited to terminal illness (as designated in the living will).
Living Will and DPAHC forms that can be detached and completed are included in the back of the brochure. They are quite comprehensive, Waddell points out, offering the patient the opportunity to include special instructions and specifications. "They can say, `I don't want tubular feeding, don't want to be on a ventilator, and want "no code" under these circumstances.'"
It even offers the chance to spell out actions for which the patient's agent shall be prohibited from giving consent, she notes.
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