What are Your Advance Directives?
Declare Your Wishes Through A Living Will In the past, it was not possible to keep
people alive indefinitely once normal body functions had stopped. Today, however, heart and body functions can be sustained through machines even if there is no hope that a person will recover. If a person has failed to make his or her wishes regarding medical care known, doctors may have no choice but to continue life-sustaining measures. Competent adults have the legal right
to refuse medical treatment. By putting your wishes in writing while you are still healthy, you can make sure your family and healthcare providers know how you want your medical care handled should you become unable to speak for yourself. You also relieve your family and healthcare providers of the emotional and legal burden of such decisions. Advance directives allow you to control
decisions regarding your medical care. A living will allows you to specify what types of medical care you do or do not want should you become terminally ill and unable to speak for yourself. Trough a durable power of attorney
for healthcare, you can appoint someone to be your health agent, that is, to speak for you if you are unable to make your wishes known. Te person you have appointed as a health agent would make decisions about your medical care based on what he or she believes you would want. A health agent can speak for you in any medical situation, not just during terminal illness (for example, if you were unconscious due to an injury).
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www.tgmc.com (985) 873-4141
Terrebonne General Supports Your Rights Concern over patients’ rights regarding life support and medical care has become so important, that the federal government and state law (Reference: Louisiana Revised Statutes, Section 40:1299.581 et seq, Revised 10/90) requires most hospitals to ask all adult patients who are admitted if they have living wills. If you have a living will or durable power of attorney, you should bring the document(s) with you when you are admitted. If you do not have a living will and would like to know more, you will be given information about writing this legal document. However, you are not obliged to do so.
Creating Advance Directives You do not need an attorney to declare advance directives, but an attorney may be helpful if you have any questions about the legal aspects of such documents. Advance directives must be signed by two witnesses not related to you and you should give copies to your family, healthcare providers and health agent. You may change or revoke your decision at any time. For more information on advance directives or for copies of a living will and durable power of attorney forms, call Social Services at 873-4080.
What is Informed Consent? TGMC is committed to the process of decision-making about a patient’s treatment in a joint manner. In that joint process, the primary role of the physician is providing information (about the
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