N10 Final Advance Directives

Advance Directives – Terminology from LMH Website

Artificial Nutrition and Hydration is when food and water are given to a person through a tube or needle because the person is no longer able to swallow.

Autopsy is an examination done on a body to find out the cause of death.

Comfort Care is care that helps to keep a person comfortable and control pain.

CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is emergency treatment that tries to restart a person's breathing or heartbeat after they have stopped. CPR can include pushing on the chest, putting a tube down the throat, and other emergency steps.

Health Care Appointment is an advance directive in which you appoint someone to make medical decisions for you if the time ever comes when you cant make them yourself. It is also called a "Health Care Proxy" or a "Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare."

Life Sustaining Treatment is any medical treatment that is used to keep a person from dying. A breathing machine, CPR, and artificial nutrition and hydration are examples of lifesustaining treatments.

Health Care Directive is an advance directive in which you say what forms of medical treatment you do or do not want if you become terminally ill or are in a persistent vegetative state.

Organ and Tissue Donation is when a person permits his/her organs (such as eyes or kidneys) and other parts of the body (such as skin) to be removed after death to be transplanted to another person or used for education or research.

Persistent Vegetative State is when a person is unconscious with no hope of regaining consciousness even with medical treatment. The body may move and eyes may be open, but as far as anyone can tell, the person can't think or respond.

Being Terminally Ill means having an injury or illness that has no cure and from which doctors expect the person to die, even with medical treatment.