How do you suggest we handle powers of attorney executed by our residents? Who should gather the powers of attorney and where should they be stored? How should we follow them to avoid liability?
The facility should adopt a policy that it will comply with all powers of attorneys executed by a resident. The policy also should state that it will not implement a power of attorney that is contrary to the beliefs of the facility or its sponsoring organization.
For example, a church sponsor that does not believe in assisted suicide or requires that all actions must protect and extend the resident’s length of life may not enforce a power of attorney that breaches its beliefs.
One of your first actions should be to carefully review the content of any power of attorney document. If it does not violate your beliefs, then allow the agent to follow its dictates.
A facility may be liable if it does not follow the directions of the agent authorized under the power of attorney. If the family is fighting about who the agent should be, you should direct the family, at the expense of the resident, to present their dispute to the appropriate court for a decision as to who should be the agent for the resident.
The facility must then accept the decision of the court and follow the directions of the agent appointed by the court.
The power of attorney and all records relating to it should be stored in the resident’s records, whether paper or electronic, so that the facility and its staff can comply with it.
These matters can be complex, but the facility should be able to avoid liability if it follows the direction of the agent authorized to act on behalf of the resident under the power of attorney.
From the September 2021 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
