PROMOTING PATIENT AUTONOMY AND COMMUNICATION THROUGH ADVANCE CARE PLANNING: A CHALLENGE FOR NURSES IN AUSTRALIA
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Keywords
patient autonomy, advance care planning, nurses' roles, nursing practice, end-of-life decision making, Australia, advance care directives
Abstract
Many older people unable to give informed consent receive life-prolonging treatments in hospitals and nursing homes, even though these treatments may lead to a reduced quality of life and may not be consistent with what the people would choose if they could make their wishes known. Advance care planning provides an opportunity for a person to discuss and communicate their wishes about future care with significant others such as their family, treating doctor and other members of their health care team. Advance care planning has not been discussed explicitly in the Australian nursing literature. This article suggests that nurses can play a stronger role in promoting and facilitating advance care planning, through a number of roles consistent with mainstream nursing practice.
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Manuscripts accepted for publication become the property of the AJAN.
Chris Shanley, MA RN
Assistant Director, Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, Concord Hospital and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia
Sharon Wall, MPH, RN
Director, Ageing by Caring, Coledale, Australia