Overview
Write an article for a community newsletter for a local retirement village that explains the laws, policies, and choices surrounding end-of-life health care decisions.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
•Competency 1: Explain the effect of health care policies, legislation, and legal issues on health care delivery and patient outcomes.
?Identify the primary policies that define current health care practices in regard to end-of-life health care decisions.
?Explain the legislation that generated end-of-life health care policies.
•Competency 2: Explain the effect of regulatory environments and controls on health care delivery and patient outcomes. ?Explain the effect of end-of-life regulations and controls on patient outcomes.
•Competency 3: Apply professional nursing ethical standards and principles to the decision-making process. ?Describe the role of the nurse in end-of-life decision making with patients and their families.
?Describe the ethical considerations that have influenced policy decisions in regard to end-of-life decisions.
•Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is consistent with expectations of nursing professionals. ? Write content clearly and logically, with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
?Correctly format citations and references using APA style.
Context
Nurses are at the bedside during the dying process; they spend entire shifts with patients and families; they develop trusting relationships; and they are competent to assess patient and family needs. Nurses gain a unique perspective that allows them to become aware when a patient is not responding to treatment. This perspective places nurses in a position to facilitate end-of-life decision making. (Adams, Bailey. Anderson, & Docherty, 2011, para. 4)
Reference
Adams, J. A., Bailey, D. E., Jr., Anderson, R. A., & Docherty, S. L. (2011). Nursing roles and strategies in end-of-life decision making in acute care: A systematic review of the literature. Nursing Research and Practice, 2011.
Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community.
•How should nurses manage patients whose end-of-life decisions may run contrary to their personal beliefs and values?
•How can nurses influence new policies, laws, or legislation regarding end-of life decisions?
•What are some of the most difficult decisions patients and families have to make at the end of the patient's life?
Suggested Resources
Library Resources
The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:
•Norlander, L. (2014). To comfort always: A nurse's guide to end-of-life care (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.
•Hebert, K., Moore, H., & Rooney, J. (2011). The nurse advocate in end-of-life care. The Ochsner Journal, 11(4), 325-329.
•Lewis, K. (2013). How nurses can help ease patient transitions to end of life care. Nursing Older People, 25(8), 22-26.
•Lund, S., Richardson, A., & May, C. (2015). Barriers to advance care planning at the end of life: An explanatory systematic review of implementation studies. PLoS One, 10(2).
•Aoun, S., O'Connor, M., Skett, K., Deas, K., & Smith, J. (2012). Do models of care designed for terminally ill 'home alone' people improve their end-of-life experience? A patient perspective. Health & Social Care in the Community, 20(6), 599-606.
•Nakano, K., Sato, K., Katayama, H., & Miyashita, M. (2013). Living with pleasure in daily life at the end of life: Recommended care strategy for cancer patients from the perspective of physicians and nurses. Palliative & Supportive Care, 11(5), 405-413.
•Adams, J. A., Bailey, D. E., Jr., Anderson, R. A., & Docherty, S. L. (2011). Nursing roles and strategies in end-of-life decision making in acute care: A systematic review of the literature. Nursing Research and Practice, 2011.
Internet Resources
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.
•American Nurses Association. (2010). Position statement: Registered nurses' roles and responsibilities in providing expert care and counseling at the end-of-life ethics and human rights. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Ethics-Position-Statements/etpain14426.pdf
Assessment Instructions
Your manager asked you to prepare an article for a community newsletter for a local retirement village. The editor wants you to talk about the laws, policies, and choices surrounding end-of-life health care decisions
Preparation
Search the library and the Internet for scholarly and professional peer-reviewed articles on end-of-life care. You will need at least three articles to use as support for your work on this assessment.
Directions
Write an article of 750-1,000 words (3-4 pages) that discusses the laws, policies, and choices surrounding end-of-life health care decisions.
Address the following in your article:
•Describe the role of the nurse in end-of-life decision making with patients and their families.
•Explain the legislation that generated end-of-life health care policies. Was the legislation an outcome of a specific medical case?
•Identify the primary policies regarding current health care practices related to end-of-life health care decisions. How to these policies affect treatment decisions?
•Explain the effect of end-of-life regulations and controls on patient outcomes. What effect does this have on the nurse-patient relationship?
•Describe the ethical considerations that have influenced policy decisions in regard to end-of-life decisions.
Additional Requirements
Your article should meet the following requirements:
•Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
•References: Cite a minimum of three resources; a majority of these should be peer-reviewed sources. Your reference list should be appropriate to the body of literature available on this topic that has been published in the past 5 years.
•APA format: Resources and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
•Length: 750-1,000 words or 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages, excluding title page and reference page. Use Microsoft Word to complete the assessment.
•Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.