Final answer:
Nurses ensure that a client's end-of-life care wishes are fulfilled by recognizing when clinical death has occurred and by respecting living wills and DNR orders. They employ skill, judgment, and an understanding of hospice care to provide dignified treatment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nurses implement a client's treatment and end-of-life care wishes by applying the knowledge, skill, and judgment to determine that clinical death has occurred, or the client is approaching the end of life. Assessing when a patient has reached clinical death or requires end-of-life treatment involves understanding the comprehensive role that modern medicine and hospice care play in these critical moments. It also requires familiarity with living wills, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, and a person's right to die with dignity.
Historically in the United States and many other cultures, death has been a difficult subject, avoided or approached with discomfort. However, over the past few decades, there has been a shift in how society handles end-of-life matters, including the development and use of hospice facilities and at-home care to ensure comfort and dignity in the dying process. The introduction of living wills and DNR orders allows individuals to express their wishes concerning end-of-life care in advance, ensuring their beliefs and values are honored when they may no longer be capable of vocalizing their decisions.