Advance Directives: the Five Wishes - Essay Example

"Advance Directives: the Five Wishes" is an engrossing example of a paper on care.
The first wish is the patient’s wish on who the patient wish should make their health care decisions for them. Here the patient gives the address and full information on who they consider appropriate to stand in for their decisions in health matters when their health situations do not allow them and further  giving conditions as to what should happen in circumstances such as change of mind (Aging with dignity, 2011)

The second wish is where the patient expresses their wish on the kind of treatment that should be administered to them or otherwise. The patient expresses their views concerning different expectations such as from the caregiver, emergency, and life support treatment. They give their wish on what should and what should not be done.

The third wish is the patient’s wish on how comfortable they want to be. Here the patient gives their wish on how they expect will be done to make them comfortable. For instance, they may wish to have their favorite music played (Aging with dignity, 2011).

The fourth wish is how the patient wishes to be treated by people. This is what they expect people will or will not do to them. For instance, they may expect to be cared for by caregivers who are in a good mood.

The fifth wish is the patient’s wish on what their loved ones should know. The patient indicates what their family should and should not be informed about. For instance, they may state their wish concerning their body after death.

Some states legalize the use of advance directives while others do not and therefore advanced directives could only be used in legalized states. Thus, the experience of advance directive is useful to act as a guide in dealing with patients who are not capable of making decisions on their own during critical conditions. Moreover,  they could assist in determining what should be done to a patient in specialized areas of care for instance on whether the patient should be supported in a life-supporting machine and thus avoiding conflicting opinions from different parties involved and conservative procedures (Irving, 2013).

Case of an Oncology Patient

In the case of a frail, elder oncology patient, an advance directive is important since it enables the family, caregivers, and physicians to know what the patient expects to be done to them and treatment as well especially during their last days. It ensures that the patient's expectations are followed thus other parties’ opinions which might result in the conflict are avoided.

The patient had a written an advance directive that indicated that the elder son would make the decisions concerning the patient’s treatment. The physician, therefore, consulted the son where any decision was to be made. The patient also expects a picture of her children to be placed on her bed, her favorite music to be played every morning, caregivers to attend to her in a jovial mood, to be visited everyday by at least one of her children, physicians will administer drugs to ease pain whenever the pain is unbearable and wishes that upon her death her body will be buried immediately. Therefore advance directive will determine how the patient will be treated since the physicians and caregivers follow the patient’s expectations.