Vocab Quiz - Death, Dying and Grief

Advance Directive

a legal document that states the person’s wishes for medical treatment in the event that he or she cannot make decisions.

Anticipatory Grief

A reaction to an expected loss such as in terminal illness. Occurs when a person displays loss and grief behaviors for a loss that has yet to occur

Bereavement

A state of having sustained a loss

cheyne stokes respirations

An abnormal pattern of breathing characterized by progressively deeper and faster breathing, followed by a gradual decrease that results in a temporary stop in breathing called apnea

Do Not Resusitate

a legal order written in the hospital or on a legal form to withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

Durable Power of Attorney

the appointing of someone to make one’s wishes known when they can no longer speak for themselves

Euthanasia

Deliberate ending of ones’s life as well as withholding of treatment

Grief

the feeling, tone or outward expression of loss

Hospice Care

organized care that provides for the terminally ill person

Living Will

a form of advanced directive that states the wishes of a person for life-sustaining treatment in case of serious illness

Loss

the fact or process of losing something or someone

Maladaptive Grief

Responses to loss that usually exhibit exaggerated, length, unpredictable course that results in unresolved conflicts

Mourning

the natural process that one goes through following loss.

Patient Self-Determination Act

The law that requires that a patient has the right to have advance directive in place

Palliative Care

care is provided by and coordinated by an interdisciplinary team; for relief of suffering of the chronically and terminally ill.

Right to Die

Belief that persons have the right to refuse medical treatment even though it may result in death