Patient Rights & Directives

Patients have the constitutional right to make decisions regarding their own medical care. This right includes the right to refuse medical treatment, even if treatment is necessary to prevent the patient from dying. A patient's right to request that medical treatment be withheld or withdrawn does not change, even when the patient loses the capacity to make the request. An Advance Directive is a legal document intended to ensure that healthcare providers honor a patient's decisions regarding treatment, even when he or she is no longer able to communicate those decisions.  Topics include: Living Wills; Medical Power of Attorney; DNR Orders and Medical Treatment Plans.

 

Death can be frightening. This can be especially true for patients in the terminal stages of chronic disease. These patients often wish for a 'good death.' However, they often fear that they will die alone, in pain, abandoned by their caregivers. Clinicians must provide excellent end-of-life care to all dying patients. In this way, clinicians can help patients have a 'good death', calm the fears of dying patients and support the patient's family.  Topics include: Curative vs. Palliative Care; Barriers to Adequate Palliative Care; Addressing the needs of the dying Patient; and Addressing the needs of the Family.

 

This course refers to the discussion about choices and values in medical practice and the duty of healthcare providers. It examines questions of moral right and wrong. This course will help you understand what you should and should not do as a healthcare provider and how to do your job in a moral way. You will learn about the four basic principles for healthcare providers and specific issues in healthcare today. Topics include: Patient-Provider Relationship; Near the End-of-Life Issues; and Practice, Society & Colleagues.