Module 9 Pull Down Navigation - Select a Page to View ------------------- Introduction What is an Advance Care Plan? Importance of an Advance Care Plan Advance Care Plan Components Getting Started on an Advance Care Plan Questions for Your Doctor or Nurse Discussions with Your Doctor or Nurse Making Care Choices as Heart Failure Progresses What to Do with Your Advance Care Plan Changing Your Mind Care for the Caretakers Terms Commonly Used in Advance Care Planning Learn More About Heart Failure

Questions for Your Doctor or Nurse

Communication is an important part of advance care planning and end-of-life care. (End-of -life is considered the final weeks of life when death is near.) As you begin to develop an advance care plan, it is important to have accurate information about heart failure and the specifics of your condition, so that you know what might be involved in your care. To get the most up-to-date information, you should talk to your doctor or nurse and other members of your heart failure team. You may wish to ask the following questions during your discussion:

• Is my heart failure progressing slowly or rapidly?
  
  
• Is my heart failure still responding to medications?
  
  
• Is there anything else that can help me, when my heart failure no longer responds to my current therapy?
  
  
• Are there things I can be doing better or more of to improve the quality and length of my life?
  
  
• Do you have a palliative medicine team you routinely work with? (See page 18 for more information on palliative care.)
  
  

Palliative care does not try to cure a disease but seeks to soothe, prevent, relieve, or reduce symptoms. It may also include treatments to help patients reach personal goals, obtain meaning from everyday life and current experiences, and overcome conflicts associated with the end-of-life.

• When is the right time to get a palliative care team involved in my care?
  
  
• How will I know when my heart condition is worsening? What signs or symptoms should I expect?
  
  
• Is frequent hospitalization a sign that my heart failure has worsened to the point that I should think about end-of-life issues?
  
  

Also, be sure to write down any additional questions you may have about heart failure and your condition.