BACKGROUND: Advance directives are a means of promoting patient autonomy in end-of-
life decisions but are used infrequently. A recent federal law requires healthcare …

Advance directives are legal documents outlining a patient's preferences for treatment at the
end of life. The intent is that the documents will be used if the patient later cannot …

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the views and experiences of 20 physicians and 20
nurses at a major Canadian teaching hospital regarding the use of advance directives in …

BACKGROUND: With the passage of the Patient Self-Determination Act in 1990, new
procedures and documents became available for planning end-of-life care. These new …

The concept of advance directives, although sound in theory, appears to be failing to meet
the needs of many patients. Advance directives have been endorsed by both the healthcare …

Background: Advance directives have been studied in different patient populations and
institutions. Most reports have shown limited use and little medically observable effect. To …

Although many hospitals have launched patient education programs regarding advance
directives, the number of patients choosing to issue these documents remains low. What …

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the lack of effect of advance directives (ADs) on decision‐
making in SUPPORT might arise, in part, from the content of the actual documents. DESIGN …

BACKGROUND: The Patient Self-Determination Act offers persons the opportunity to make
their end-of-life choices known by the use of advance directives. Although nurses are …

Over the past two decades, our society has reached a consensus that medical decision
making should be shaped by patients' preferences. 1 A formal, written advance directive is …