Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
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J Am Assoc Nurse Pract · Nov 2015
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment for nursing home residents with dementia.
Many nursing home (NH) residents with dementia receive burdensome, aggressive treatments at the end of life (EOL). The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatments (POLSTs) paradigm is a strategy to enhance EOL care. This article describes the history and features of the POLST paradigm, discusses the potential advantages of using this paradigm for NH residents with dementia, and briefly explores challenges that nurse practitioners (NPs) face in using the POLST for persons with dementia. ⋯ NPs should assess and optimize their knowledge and skills to conduct goals of care discussions, including POLST discussions.