- bereavement
- period of time when one mourns a loss
- do-not-intubate (DNI)
- order stating the patient does not want to be placed on a ventilator if they are unable to breathe independently
- do-not-resuscitate (DNR)
- order stating the patient does not want CPR conducted if their heart stops
- durable power of attorney (DPOA)
- document enabling the patient to list a specific individual whom they entrust to make financial and health-care decisions when they are no longer able to do so
- euthanasia
- act by an individual to cause death, such as directly administering a lethal dose of a medication; illegal throughout the United States
- grief
- emotional state that follows a loss
- health-care proxy
- person designated in a durable power of attorney document to make health-related decisions for a patient who is no longer able to make their own decisions
- holistic care
- care for the whole person, including body, mind, spirit, and emotions
- hospice care
- specific type of palliative care for patients nearing the end of life, encompassing physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs and desires
- Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
- program with a goal of improving quality of care for patients at the end of life by enabling them to specify their goals and preferences via a transferrable form; known in some states as POLST
- mourning
- external actions taken to express one’s grief, such as wearing black
- palliation
- effort to alleviate suffering and enhance quality of life for patients with serious, often progressive, illnesses
- palliative care
- comfort care provided when a serious illness is no longer responding to treatment
- Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
- program with a goal of improving quality of care for patients at the end of life by enabling them to specify their goals and preferences; known in some states as MOLST
- provider-assisted death
- use of pharmacological agents prescribed by a health-care provider to hasten death; legal in certain US states and jurisdictions
- respite care
- period of rest for a caregiver in which the patient temporarily resides in a skilled nursing facility before returning home
- shadow grief
- unresolved sadness