Is
Your Living Will Compromising Your Safety?
If
you have a living will, you probably had it prepared so your wishes could be
carried out if you became incapable of making your own medical decisions. But,
did you realize there is a risk of your living will being misinterpreted?
Patients
who are not terminally ill die in hospitals every year because of medical staff
misinterpretations of living wills. These
are patients who would have otherwise lived if treated. But, too often, patients
with living wills are treated as DNR--a code status understood by physicians and
staff to mean "do not resuscitate." However, in many cases their
status should have been "Full Code," which tells those in authority to
use aggressive efforts to save patients' lives. Unfortunately, living wills do
not contain patient code status designations and therein lies the problem.
As
an emergency room physician, Ferdinando L. Mirarchi, D.O. understands how these
misinterpretations happen. InUnderstanding Your Living Will, Dr. Mirarchi
explains how to include lifesaving patient code status information in your
living will and in the living wills of your loved ones. Among the questions he
answers:
-
How
can you be sure your living will makes your wishes clear?
-
What
are the hidden dangers in living wills?
-
How
can you avoid the misinterpretation of a DNR code status?
-
When
does a living will become active?
-
Why
is it important to have a health care power of attorney?
-
What
is a health care proxy?
A
Book to Help You Ensure Your Living Will Follows Your Wishes
