Posts Tagged ‘POA’

Discussing End of Life Care (Part 2)

In part one of this two part series, we looked at the different types of advance directives people can establish to ensure that their end-of-life care is in line with their wishes. Today, we look at how to talk to your loved ones and encourage them to express their wishes so that as they approach the end of their life, you as the caregiver know exactly how to proceed.

Care planning

Although there are always different techniques for approaching this conversation, there does seem to be one common opinion: the time to do it is now.  “Everyone over the age of 18 should have a health care proxy form filled out and should be discussing what they would want done with a person that would be making decisions for them in the event that they are not able to make these decisions for themselves,” said Fern Wasserman, Founder of New York Legal Nurse Consultants. New York Legal Nurse Consultants helps facilitate conversations between the individual filling out their health care proxy form and the people who will need to carry out these wishes in the event this person is unable to make their wishes known.

Colleen Reynolds, President of Edge Communications and former admissions and marketing coordinator of a skilled nursing facility in Fort Myers, Fla., also emphasizes that time is of the essence. “I’d suggest that the Healthcare POA/Surrogate be discussed well in advance of needing it. A DNR should be gently discussed, but discussed again when the decision is imminent,” she said. “I watched so many people struggle with this decision and family members who wished desperately that loved ones asked for a DNR after they had been resuscitated and then left to suffer brain damage and broken ribs.”

In Reynolds’s work, she had to have these conversations with patients who did not have any advance directives on file.  “Because the conversations didn’t happen earlier, it was often left up to me to talk to someone who was admitted, if they were not declared legally incompetent, to see if they wanted to be resuscitated in the event of heart failure. Strangers should not have to do this.”

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Moving Mom to a Safe Place

By Mary Jo Garinger

My mom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease seven years before my stepfather passed away suddenly. She had already been started on Aricept, a drug used to help alleviate some confusion in those with Alzheimer’s, but I hadn’t fully grasped the severity of her dementia and how much my step-father had cared – and covered up – for her until his passing five years ago.

As we stood at the hospital, Mom had no idea why she was there or what had happened to her husband, although I had told her repeatedly. The doctor would ask her questions and she would turn to me for the answers. She repeatedly asked me, just seconds apart, “Why are we here?” and “What’s a seizure?” when I told her how her husband had died.

My first task in taking charge of her care was to get a baseline on her medical condition, so I took her to her neurologist. She reconfirmed the Alzheimer’s diagnosis and suggested that I take her to a geriatric institute where she would receive the appropriate medical and psychological care. After she was evaluated by a full panel of medical experts, I received a written prescription stating my mother needed “24 hour assistance with medications, cooking meals, eating on a regular basis, daily hygiene, and observation for falls.” I was encouraged to seek Power of Attorney (POA) and move her to a safe environment. Convinced I was doing the right thing, I obtained the necessary medical signatures and paperwork so I could legally make medical and financial decisions for her.

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