Advance care planning is a process for patients and their families to discuss their wishes and goals of care for treatment and end-of-life care, clarify related values and goals, and state preferences through written documents and medical orders.
In situations where a patient’s decision-making capacity is limited, healthcare providers turn to family members to make decisions.
The Oncology Nursing Society has joined with nursing specialty organizations representing more than 700,000 nurses and other healthcare professionals to promote those ACP conversations among patients and families. The initiative encourages all nurses to lead by example by establishing their own ACP.
The initiative, tagged “#ISaidWhatIWant,” was developed in response to the work done at the 2017 Palliative Nursing Summit hosted by the Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing Association, in which ONS participated.
The summit brought nurses together from various specialties to develop a collaborative nursing agenda regarding ACP, pain and symptom management, and transitions/coordination of care.
Following the summit, participating organizations formed work teams to develop specific programs to influence public health by engaging nurses in targeted initiatives to enhance the care and outcomes for patients and their families.
