NURE Investigación (Jan 2006)
Discussing advance preferences for end-of-life: The role of nurses and other health proffessionals
Abstract
Our society keeps on achieving goals regarding individual liberties. This fact has been reinforced since the law 41/2002 (basic law on patient rights, duties and autonomy regarding health information and documentation) was approved on May 16th 2003. This law establishes the ethic boundaries not to be crossed regarding health attention. Additionally to the patient autonomy, this law includes the reference to the living wills, defined as an anticipated declaration about the desired care in case of loosing the capability to give an opinion about it when the end of life is coming.Literature makes clear that living wills are a phenomena in which not only the patients and the health professionals are involved, but the whole society.This article aims to revise the participation of the health and medical professionals in this process, as well as to think about the role of the health carer leading this process. The objective is not to reduce the caring process to a simple document signing, but to plan health decisions when the end of life is coming from a global conception of the caring process.
