Nurses' knowledge of Advance Directives, Patient Self-determination Act, and Illinois Advance Directive Law.

The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to describe the level of knowledge and education nurses receive on advance directives (ADs), the Patient Self-determination Act, and Illinois state law. A modified version of the Knowledge-Attitudinal-Experiential Survey on Advance Directives was used with a convenience sample of 110 nurses from general medical-surgical, rehabilitation, oncology, intensive care unit, and recovery units in a medical center in Illinois. Results suggested that respondents were somewhat knowledgeable about general AD items, but less knowledgeable about the Patient Self-determination Act and Illinois state law. Clearly, nurses need further education regarding rules and regulations concerning Illinois law on ADs.

Breast augmentation & lactation outcome: a case report.

This article contains two case reports that illustrate the difficulty two mothers experienced when they mechanically expressed their milk for their very preterm infants. Each of the mothers was enrolled in a separate research study and had previously undergone surgery for breast augmentation. Neither of the mothers was able to provide an adequate milk supply for her preterm infant. Preoperative counseling and informed consent for breast augmentation is vital if the mother desires to exclusively provide mother's milk for the infant.