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Advance Directives Educational Program For Nurses, Rose R. Pappas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Advance directives (AD) are legal documents outlining a patient's preferences for treatment at the end of life. AD allow people to communicate their end-of-life (EOL) decisions about medical care to family, friends, and health care professionals in the event that they are unable to make those decisions themselves. Many nurses observe patients and their families waiting until the patient is at the end of their life before they initiate an AD. With the current rate of aging baby boomers in the United States, AD would appear to be a phenomeron that should be encouraged. Assisting patients with completion of AD …