Advance Care Planning is not just for the sick, elderly, and frail.
Did you know that the leading cause of death in the 1-44 year old age group is unintentional injury? Of those unintentional injuries, the #1 cause in the 5-24 year old group is motor-vehicle traffic accidents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). In an effort to bring light to the importance of advance care planning (ACP) in this age group, in the past 6 months, we have educated over 500 college-age students!
One student, Rebeca, decided to act on the information she learned during her NUR 267 Clinical Nursing 1 class. She scheduled her appointment, and asked her sister and parents to come along as her selected advocates. During the ACP conversation, they learned more about the need for everyone to have a patient advocate. That day, all 4 left MCM with a completed Advance Directive!
Kudos to this family for having “the conversation” now, and for Rebeca, who is spreading knowledge about ACP. Thank you to the the Grand Valley State University NUR 267 nursing professors who invited Carol to give the ACP presentation during class time. Anchor up!
