MyICUCare.org - Society of Critical Care Medicine

advance directive

Instructions for family, friends, and the critical care team that make critically ill or injured patients' medical treatment preferences known, should they become incapacitated. An advance directive can be a living will, durable power of attorney (for health care), or assignment of a surrogate decision maker. Laws about advance directives vary from state to state, so an advance directive should be written for all states a patient spends considerable time in. An advance directive will not expire unless a new version is written, and patients should occasionally review and update theirs to reflect their most current wishes.

Keywords

advance, directive, directives, decision, decisions, instruction, instructions, living, will, wills, durable, power, attorney, attorneys, assignment, surrogate, surrogates

Last modified at 9/8/2009 8:54 AM by Committee