Advance Directives

An Advance Healthcare Directive is a written and signed document that communicates the care you would like to receive or not receive under certain medical circumstances, if you become mentally impaired or unable to speak for yourself.

It is intended to provide physicians and staff with direction for making treatment decisions such as intubation, mechanical ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and other life-sustaining measures.

There are two Primary Advanced Directives in the state of Iowa: a Living Will and a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.

Living Will
The Living Will takes effect only when you have a terminal condition or are unable to make decisions.

A terminal condition is an irreversible condition that, without life-sustaining procedures, will result in death within a relatively short period of time or a state of permanent unconsciousness from which there is likely no recovery.

A life-sustaining procedure is any artificial means which sustains, restores, or supplants a vital body function such as breathing using a mechanical respirator. This only prolongs the dying process for a terminal patient.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is a document through which you name another person known as your “attorney-in-fact” or “agent” to make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself.

The agent you choose will make health care decisions in accordance with your wishes regarding the treatment of your physical or mental condition. If you wish, you may specify the health care treatments you do or do not want. You can limit your agent’s authority if you wish.

Your agent should be someone that you trust and who has consented to act as your agent. However, the law does not allow your agent to be your doctor, nurse, or other person providing health care to you on the date you sign the document. No employee of the doctor, nurse, or any hospital or health care facility providing care to you on the date you sign the document unless that employee is a close relative.

Its application is not restricted to patients with a terminal condition or to decisions about life-sustaining procedures.

Advance Directives are important personal healthcare decisions, which require very careful consideration. Talk to your medical provider about the effects of withholding or withdrawing treatments and also discuss your decisions with your family, friends, doctor, health care providers, and other advisers, spiritual or legal.