Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) are legally binding agreements that can be used by a person in case of a personal health crisis. It clearly outlines a person’s medical preference or other decisions in life and can be used to grant a mental health care representative authority over a mental health treatment. PAD allows patients to state their preferred mode of treatment thus making them to receive effective care.
In New Jersey, a PAD encompasses the name of the mental health care representative, health facilities, and medications or dosages. Furthermore, it entails details of the physicians who will treat the patient, the type of care, and people visiting the sick individual (Gaillard et al., 2022). In some cases, the preference of the facilities and the type of treatment which would make the patient feel safe preferred by the patient.
In the healthcare unit, a number of persons suffering from different mental problems have been admitted. Such patients require PAD services to enable the physicians undertake disease management. By having the PAD tool, the sick individual will be in a position to highlight any other possible medical issue that they are likely to encounter (Poremski et al., 2020). This aspect ensures during the treatment clinician have adequate information to guide their practices. In addition, such details enable the psychiatrist to predict future health risks and thus take appropriate measures. The patient, a black-male was anxious, scared and did not want to associate with nurses. The individual seemed distressed and in most cases had self-conversation.
For this patient with a possible risk of impending mental health risk, a PAD will be of great help in protecting them from harmful treatment processes in the future. Furthermore, it enhances the level of communication between the client, family, and physician. All the guidelines as outlined by the patient will be protected to avoid any cases of legal action in any case they arise.
PADs are of immense importance to every healthcare professional, client, and family. There should be clear policies guiding the administration of health and responsibilities at this stage of a patient’s health. A patient’s decision should always be given priority and all the legal arrangements followed. By giving PAD priority, cases of inappropriate medical procedures that conflict with a person’s choice will be reduced thus facilitating quality and effective patient care.
Reference
Gaillard, A. S., Braun, E., Vollmann, J., Gather, J., & Scholten, M. (2022). The content of psychiatric advance directives: A systematic review. Psychiatric Services, appi-ps. Web.
Poremski, D., Alexander, M., Fang, T., Tan, G. M. Y., Ong, S., Su, A., Fung, D. & Chua, H. C. (2020). Psychiatric Advance Directives and their relevance to improving psychiatric care in Asian countries. Asia‐Pacific Psychiatry, 12(1), e12374. Web.