Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to specify your choice for medical care if you are not able to communicate. This glossary contains terms that are commonly used in connection with advance directives. Click here for a glossary of medical terms.
• Advance Directive – These legal documents state what medical care or treatments a person wants or does not want if he is unable to communicate his wishes about health care at a future date. The documents may also name specific people to make health care or other decisions in the patient’s place.
• Capacity – When used in advance directive documents, “capacity” refers to whether or not the patient is thinking clearly and has the ability to understand his medical condition and the possible risks and benefits of treatment options. A patient who has the capacity to make medical decisions does not need a health care agent to make decisions for him.
• DNI (Do Not Intubate) order – This document instructs medical personnel not to intubate if the patient is having difficulty breathing. Intubation means a tube is inserted through the patient’s nose or mouth into the windpipe to allow clear access for air to travel into and out of the lungs.
• DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order – This document instructs medical personnel not to perform CPR or try to get the heart to resume beating if breathing and heart beat stop.
• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) – This group of trained medical personnel provide emergency care outside the hospital setting or other health care facilities. EMTs may be paramedics, first responders, or ambulance crew and may be working for the government or for a private company.
• Health care agent – Based on the laws of the state, this person can be designated in a health care or medical power of attorney to act on behalf of a patient who is not able to think clearly or communicate for himself.
• Health care Power of Attorney or health care proxy - This legal document allows a patient to appoint someone to make medical decisions if the patient is not able to think clearly or communicate for himself. This document is sometimes called a medical power of attorney.
• Living will – This legal document allows patients to specify what medical care or treatments he would like to have if he is unable to communicate his wishes in the future. This document may be put to use at any age in case of an injury, accident, or illness that prevents the patient from communicating with doctors. A living will is sometimes called a medical directive or health care declaration.
• Medical Power of Attorney – This legal document allows a patient to appoint someone to make medical decisions if the patient is not able to think clearly or communicate for himself. This document is sometimes called a health care power of attorney or health care proxy.
• Organ or tissue donation - Organ transplants save lives by replacing damaged or non-functioning organs with healthy organs donated by patients who agree to let the organs be removed from their bodies after death. Patients may choose specific organs to donate such as the eyes or kidneys, or may donate other tissues such as skin which can aid burn victims. Patients can also choose to donate any or all organs or may donate their entire body for medical research. The patient will need to be kept on a ventilator and other equipment after he is pronounced dead in order to keep blood and oxygen flowing to the organs until they can be surgically removed.
• Power of Attorney – A legal document that designates another person who is legally allowed to act on behalf of the patient or owner of the document. A power of attorney may have a specific focus such as health care, finances, or real estate transactions.
• Surrogate decision-making – When a patient is not able to make his or her own decisions, a surrogate or substitute may step in to make those decisions if the patient did not have an advance directive to provide instructions. Most states have laws allowing for surrogate decision-making but the laws vary from state to state.
• Withholding or withdrawing treatment – Deciding not to start life-sustaining treatments or to stop giving them after a certain length of time. These treatments may include CPR, artificial breathing through a ventilator, or artificial food or hydration.
Further Reading: Glossary of general and legal terms commonly used in advance directives
Sources:
American Academy of Family Physicians
Caring Connections
BrainandSpinalCord.org
National Institutes of Health: Medline Plus