Patient Bill of Rights

As a Hospice Palliative Care individual, my rights include:

• Have my decisions and choices respected and followed, even though they may be contrary to the wishes of others.
• Be treated with openness and honesty without deception or half-truths.
• Receive on-going medical and nursing care even though the goals must be changed from cure to comfort.
• Express my feelings and emotions about my approaching death in my own way.
• Maintain a sense of hopefulness, however changing its focus might be.
• Be cared for by those who can maintain a sense of hopefulness, however changing its focus might be.
• Discuss and enlarge my spiritual and religious experiences, regardless of what they mean to others.
• Be cared for by compassionate, sensitive and knowledgeable people who will attempt to understand my needs and try to meet them.
• Receive support from and for my loved-ones in learning how to accept my death.
• Die in peace and with dignity.