Advance Directives
Living Will And Designation Of Health Care Surrogate
As a patient, you have the right to formulate Advance Directives and to make decisions concerning your medical care, including the right to accept or refuse medical/surgical treatment. The MCN is committed to helping facilitate your expressed wishes concerning your health care. The MCN will honor your Advance Directive within the limits of the law.
Advance Directives are legal documents that you may complete to help ensure that your wishes are carried out when you are unable to speak for yourself. These documents indicate your choices regarding health care decisions, including, but not limited to, life-prolonging procedures and the designation of someone to make health care decisions in the event you are unable to make decisions yourself. Advance Directives are commonly known as the Living Will and the Designation of a Health Care Surrogate.
The Living Will is an Advance Directive document that allows you to indicate your choices regarding the use of life-prolonging procedures. You may also designate a person to make health care decisions for you if you become mentally or physically unable to do so yourself. This may be done by completing a Designation of Heath Care Surrogate document. It is very important that the wishes you express in these documents be discussed with your physician and family / significant other.
We would like to request that each time you come to the hospital to be admitted as an inpatient, you bring a copy of your most recently completed Advance Directive(s). Upon your admittance as an adult inpatient, you will be asked if you have completed an Advance Directive. Your response will be documented in your medical record. If you have already signed an Advance Directive document and didn’t bring it to the hospital, you will be asked to complete another.
You may request Advance Directive forms from your nurse or case management coordinator.