Health Care Providers' and Cancer Patients' Preferences Regarding Disclosure of Information About Advance Directives

Abstract

The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) of 1990 requires hospitals to tell patients when they are admitted to the hospital about their right to complete an advance directive. The purpose of the study was to learn how providers and patients believe information about advance directive should be presented. When focus groups of providers and patients from a regional cancer center were held, nurses expressed more comfort with the requirements of the PSDA than did physicians, who were particularly concerned about the effect of the Act on their ability to treat patients in critical situations. Although patients were in favor of advance directives, they felt that hospital admission was not the best time to learn about them. This exploratory study suggests that testing the effectiveness of distributing written information to patients before admission and using specially trained personnel to discuss advance directives with patients may be worthwhile.