Pre-Admission Information to Patient
What are advance directives?
Advance directives are written instructions that you make while you are mentally competent that state how you want your health care decisions to be made if you become incapacitated or cannot express your wishes. Advanced directives guide your physician and other health care professionals, and relieve your family and friends from the burden of guessing what types of care and treatment you would want to receive. Wisconsin statutes recognize two forms of advance directives – the Power of Attorney for Health Care and the Declaration to Physicians (Living Will).

Power of Attorney for Health Care.
This appoints an agent to make all health care decisions for you, in collaboration with your personal physician, if you lose the ability to make health care decisions for yourself.

Declaration to Physicians (Living Will).
This describes the kind of life-sustaining care you would want only if you had a terminal condition or were in a persistent vegetative state. This declaration directs your physician whether to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment or a feeding tube if you develop an illness or injury that cannot be cured and your death is imminent. A Declaration to Physicians does not give authority to anyone to make health care decisions on your behalf.

How do I obtain these documents?
For both the Declaration to Physicians and the Advanced Directives, you can use the standard forms created by law available at courthouses, hospitals, nursing homes, and through the
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.

Begin the process by thinking through your options and talking with your family. If you have specific legal or medical questions, consult your attorney or primary care physician.

You have the right to bring an executed advance directive for placement in your medical record at the Sheboygan Surgery Center.

Reviewed July 10, 2010