Difference betw living will and adv directive

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Ok........I have a silly question. What EXACTLY is the difference between an 'advanced directive' and a 'living will'???? Are the terms synonymous? I have researched and just am not able to come up w/ a way to explain it to my patients. How can I explain this to them when I don't fully understand it all myself? What I usually do is refer them to our pastoral care team. I feel very inadequate in this area. :o

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

Yes, they are the same thing. Check out whether your state has Physician's Orders for Live Sustaining Treatment (POLST's). These are a much shorter version for paramedics to follow and are also honored at hospitals...much easier to deal with and I love the fact we have them!

Take a close look at the advanced directives too...and see if you see any contradictions in the writing between pages...I sure did~! IV's for one thing..then on the next page it would be no IV's for anything and such...I find them too confusing and really time consuming to go through such a long packet of info when you have someone coding on you!

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I had the impression that a living will is part of an advance directive. A living will states what medical treatment an individual would want to recieve if unable to speak for themselves. An advance directive includes the living will, statement of healthcare proxy and sometimes organ donation specifications.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I had the impression that a living will is part of an advance directive. A living will states what medical treatment an individual would want to recieve if unable to speak for themselves. An advance directive includes the living will, statement of healthcare proxy and sometimes organ donation specifications.

This is my understanding, too.

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