Get Advance Directive Examples

An advance directive is used to guide your health care team and loved ones when they need to make these decisions or to decide who will make decisions for you when you can't. These medical decisions might include special actions or emergency care from your health care team.

A specific and common example of an advance directive is a “do not resuscitate” order (or DNR), which guides care only if your heart stops beating (cardiac arrest) or you are no longer breathing.

If a patient has not previously had an ACP conversation, nurses can teach patients why planning is important. When a patient expresses a desire for advance care planning, nurses can communicate the request to the other members of the healthcare team. Teaching families and caregivers how to initiate ACP conversations.

Talk about your values — what makes your life worth living and what you consider quality of life. Approach the conversation wanting to share your wishes before you ask someone else to share their own wishes. Be prepared to have more than one conversation or that the subject may cause an emotional reaction. This is ok.

Advance directives are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes. The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

Advance directives consist of (1) a living will and (2) a medical (healthcare) power of attorney. A living will describes your wishes regarding medical care. With a medical power of attorney you can appoint a person to make healthcare decisions for you in case you are unable to speak for yourself.

Advance directives generally fall into three categories: living will, power of attorney and health care proxy.

What is an Advance Directive? An advance directive is a document that indicates, in writing, your choices about the treatments you want or do not want or about who will make healthcare decisions for you if you become incapacitated and cannot express your wishes.