Polst and advance directives in florida

In Florida, for the AD to comply by the law, the form has to be filled and signed by the principle (individual seeking the advance directive) or a person in the presence of the principle can sign on their behalf and signed by two witnesses. At least one of the witnesses to the AD must not be a blood relative or a spouse. The form is filled in three parts of which the principle can complete part one and two or either but part three which includes the signature and witnesses in compulsory. The AD must be filled by a person of sound mind and who has attained the majority age (18 years and above) to be legally conforming. The advance directives in the State of Florida is enshrined in the Florida legislation Chapter 765, Florida Statutes (Floridahealthfinder.

AD is, however, not a legal requirement within the State of Florida. The completed AD form can be revoked in Florida as per the law by either; a signed and dated writing showing intent to revoke the AD, physically destroying the form document or having it destroyed on your behalf and in your presence, providing an oral directive to revoke the advance directive or signing of a new directive that consequently supersedes the previous document. In a situation where the surrogate nominated in the advance directive is a spouse and the marriage is annulled or due to a divorce, the powers to act on behalf of the principle are henceforth revoked. This holds unless such automatic revocation is addressed in the additional instructions (page 2) expressly showing the authority of the surrogate shall not be revoked by divorce or annulment of marriage.

The advance directive law in Florida allows and recognizes advance directives that are filled in other states outside of Florida (Sabatino, 2018). Among the other difficulties, I faced was the organ donation which I personally felt was against my personal beliefs, however despite that, I also professionally recognized its importance in health and the conflict between personal beliefs and professional expectation made the section a challenging one. Garrido, Idler, Leventhal & Carr, (2012), established that conflict between religious beliefs and advanced care planning can impact the advance planning and hence there is a need to sensitize on religion and AD as certain beliefs conflict from end-of-life decisions made. Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) A Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form is a form that is filled by the patient with the advice of the healthcare provider detailing the medical treatments the patient prefers for their condition (Torke et al.

POLST forms are filled once the patient has had a discussion on their diagnosis and prognosis as well as the available medical interventions and outcomes with their physician (Torke et al. The POLST form can be moved across care settings to ensure continuity in care and avoid medication errors. Nurses can meet this obligation by providing the patient with adequate health information on their health. Through health education, nurses ought to ensure the patients understand clearly the benefits and risks associated with the available treatment and medication options for their conditions so as to ensure they make informed choices. In ensuring autonomy is respected, nurses should ensure patients with POLST have the form placed in front of their files and that the POLST is transferred through the care system to ensure the patients' wishes are respected.