This essay first appeared on jenniferbrokaw.com The day I showed up at the hospital, Pat’s nightmare had been running almost ceaselessly for several weeks. I found him tossing in bed, sweat pouring from his face, as he strained against the cloth ties tethering his wrists to the bed rail. A hulking man in life, Pat […]
LIFE MATTERS MEDIA STAFF New Jersey could soon become one of the first states to use a state-wide electronic health registry to store seriously ill patients’ medical orders. State Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett and officials from the New Jersey Hospital Association unveiled the new electronic Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) initiative this month at a local […]
Inclusion of nurse practitioners in the advance care planning process will become increasingly important.
Broad acceptance of POLST in nursing homes surprises UCLA researchers BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org There is vast acceptance of written end of life medical orders among California’s nursing home residents, as now nearly half use the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. A new study, published in the Jounal of General Internal Medicine, […]
BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org As the POLST paradigm spreads across the nation and gains acceptance among patients and providers, some critics have expressed concern about its effect on end of life care. For millions of seriously ill and aged Americans, advance health care directives alone will not be enough to ensure their end of life care wishes are honored in […]