Working with POLST
FREE course during the month of April
brought to you by
The California State University Shiley Institute for Palliative Care
April 2021
On Demand
Click here to register and view
POLST stands for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. It is a physician order that gives patients more control over their care by specifying the types of medical treatment they want to receive during advanced serious illness.
Developed in conjunction with the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, this course is designed to help the health care professional understand the role and value of this document, and how to employ it in documenting and honoring patient wishes. (Note: This course provides details regarding POLST in California, so there may be some differences in what is required in Illinois).
Studies have shown that patient wishes about care are often not known. Even when a patient has an Advance Directive, it may not be accessible when needed. When a patient's wishes are not known during stressful situations, confusion may arise. The POLST form may help to reduce some of that confusion when:
· The Advance Directive may not be accessible
· Wishes may not be clearly defined in the Advance Directive
· The Advance Directive is not a physician order
This course will show how this extremely important form allows health care professionals to know and honor the wishes of their patients during serious illness.