Thesis
Use of the 'physician orders for life sustaining treatment' form in the emergency department setting: the providers' experience
Washington State University
Master of Nursing (MN), Washington State University
2007
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101168
Abstract
Beginning in the early 1990s, leaders in long-term care and Emergency Medical Services in Oregon recognized a need to better communicate patient preferences about treatment near the end of life. In 1995, an Oregon Health & Science University task force developed a simple one page form to facilitate clarification of a person's wishes regarding end of life treatment. The single page, double sided form titled Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) translates an individual's choices for his or her end of life health care treatment into provider orders and can be honored in all care settings. This qualitative study evaluated the experiences of emergency department providers with the POLST form. Understanding the experiences of providers in the emergency department setting is crucial to understanding ways to improve the use and effectiveness of the POLST form. Imogene King's Interacting Systems Theory was used as the framework for this study. The study sample consisted of five emergency department providers at four hospitals in Oregon and Washington. Data were collected by the researcher through individual interviews which were analyzed for categories and themes. This study found that a major barrier to POLST form compliance was the families of patients who had completed the form. The findings suggest that better education about the POLST form, for both the patients and their families, may improve the successful use of the form.
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Details
- Title
- Use of the 'physician orders for life sustaining treatment' form in the emergency department setting
- Creators
- Allison Richards
- Contributors
- Louise Kaplan (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Nursing, College of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Nursing (MN), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525398901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis