My Living Will

[jslayeruk]

Macabre maybe, but this is one of those posts that one really should make at some point. I don't have the time at the moment to make a proper Living Will, but I should think that in the event of anything happening to me then this should qualify as an indication of my wishes that can hold up in court

Comments

[big_gay_dana]

Actually, yes, I've been meaning to do something like this myself for a while. I'm fairly certain advance directives can be used for stipulating anything about your care, not just refusals... or maybe that's just in the USA. Either way, I think everyone should make sure their wishes are known, because goodness knows you can't rely on those who have the power in these situations to do the right thing for you.

I remember at nursing school a DNR order being made on one of my patients, without him being consulted. He was considered unable to make decisions for himself, and he had no family to speak for him, so an "ethics committee" made the decision that his quality of life was so low as to make a DNR the best option. It made me sick, not least because not one member of the ward staff (ie those of us who actually knew him and could testify as to his quality of life AND his wishes) was given a place on the committee or a say in the decision. It haunts me still.

[jslayeruk]

Urgh, that sounds awful (and also bad management - I mean, no input from informed individuals like the ward staff? What?!). I thoroughly support a person's right to request a DNR order, but given DNR's irreversibility, it's not a decision to make without that person's input. Without evidence that the individual would rather die in these circumstances, I could never support a DNR.