CSA End-of-Life Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which document specifically designates a person to make healthcare decisions when someone is incapacitated?
- Living will
- Durable power of attorney for healthcare (Correct answer)
- Do-not-resuscitate order
- POLST form
Correct answer: Durable power of attorney for healthcare
A durable power of attorney for healthcare (healthcare proxy) designates a specific agent to make medical decisions when the principal cannot.
Question 2: What is the primary difference between a POLST form and an advance directive?
- POLST covers financial decisions; advance directives cover medical
- POLST is a physician's medical order for immediate use; advance directives are planning documents (Correct answer)
- Advance directives require notarization; POLST does not
- POLST is only valid in hospital settings; advance directives apply everywhere
Correct answer: POLST is a physician's medical order for immediate use; advance directives are planning documents
POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) is an actionable medical order honored by EMS and care facilities, while advance directives are planning documents that guide future decisions.
Question 3: A senior wants to avoid probate for her home. Which strategy is most effective?
- Writing a will that specifies the home's beneficiary
- Placing the home in a revocable living trust (Correct answer)
- Filing a transfer-on-death deed where state law permits
- Adding the heir as a joint tenant with right of survivorship
Correct answer: Placing the home in a revocable living trust
A revocable living trust transfers assets outside of probate upon death while allowing the grantor to retain control during life.
Question 4: Which type of grief describes mourning that begins before an expected death, such as during a terminal diagnosis?
- Complicated grief
- Disenfranchised grief
- Anticipatory grief (Correct answer)
- Delayed grief
Correct answer: Anticipatory grief
Anticipatory grief occurs when a person begins to grieve in advance of an expected loss, such as a terminal illness diagnosis.
Question 5: Under federal law, hospice Medicare benefit requires a life expectancy of no more than:
- 3 months
- 6 months (Correct answer)
- 9 months
- 12 months
Correct answer: 6 months
Medicare's hospice benefit requires two physicians to certify that the patient has a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less if the disease runs its normal course.
Question 6: A client's spouse died with no will. The couple owned a bank account as joint tenants with right of survivorship. What happens to the account?
- It passes through probate according to state intestacy laws
- It automatically transfers to the surviving spouse (Correct answer)
- It is frozen until an estate administrator is appointed
- It splits equally among all heirs
Correct answer: It automatically transfers to the surviving spouse
Assets held as joint tenants with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving owner outside of probate, regardless of whether a will exists.
Question 7: Which ethical principle most directly supports a patient's right to refuse life-sustaining treatment?
- Beneficence
- Non-maleficence
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the bioethical principle that upholds an individual's right to make informed decisions about their own care, including refusing treatment.
CSA End-of-Life Planning 2
Which document specifically designates a person to make healthcare decisions when someone is incapacitated?