 Competent adults have the right to control decisions about their own medical care, including decisions to accept or refuse care and treatment. You also have the right to plan and direct your future healthcare decisions in the event that you are no longer able to communicate with your healthcare providers.
The written document you use to make your wishes known is called an advance medical directive. The two forms of advance medical directives currently recognized in Wisconsin are Power of Attorney for Healthcare, and Declaration to Physicians (more commonly referred to as a "Living Will").
Wisconsin-Specific Forms
Meriter recommends that all people clarify their wishes for medical care before a hospital stay. Five Wisconsin-specific forms are available through this site:
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(Optional) Assistance with helping you make treatment choices.
Reprinted by permission from A Gift to Your Family.
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(customized for Jehovah's Witnesses)
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If you have questions about filling out these forms, please call Meriter Patient & Family Services or Meriter Spiritual Care at (608) 417-6000.
The above forms are Adobe Acrobat files. To open these files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free plug-in) on your computer.
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader Now For Free!
4/10/2007
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Recommended Class
Meriter offers a free class on Advance Medical Directives several times a year. To learn about future classes, please visit the Meriter Classes and Events section.
Recommended Quiz
Discover how much you know about Advance Directives by taking our Advance Directives Quiz!
Recommended Articles and Guidelines
If you would like to learn about Advance Medical Directives and other key issues, the following articles and guidelines are available:
Advance Medical Directives - Putting Your Healthcare Decisions in Writing
Codes - An Introduction to Your Right to Direct Your Healthcare Under Wisconsin Law
Your Responsibilities as a Healthcare Agent
Discussion of Two Recent Wisconsin Court Cases, "Edna MF" and "Montalvo"
Meriter's Physician Guidelines Regarding Decisions to Withhold, Use or Withdraw Life-sustaining Treatment (PDF File)
Recommended Web Sites
The Meriter Ethics Committee recommends the following sites related to this topic:
Putitinwriting.org - A site from the American Hospital Association with easy-to-use, helpful information on advance directives
Your Life, Your Choices - Planning for Future Medical Decisions: How to Prepare a Personalized Living Will - Assistance with helping you make choices that align with your values.
The Five Wishes Form - Available through the Living with Dignity Web site.
American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Recommended Books
Click the links to travel to bn.com.
On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nursers, Clergy and Their Own Families - by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man
and Life's Greatest Lesson - by Mitch Albom
Finding the Joy in Today; Practical Readings for Living with Chronic Illness - by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele |
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