Advance care planning (ACP): The nurse as 'broker' in residential aged care facilities

This paper describes one aspect of a study that investigated how Advance Care Planning (ACP) was implemented in residential care facilities (RACFs) in Australia and the role of a Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) for ACP. Three RACFs were included in the study. This paper focuses on the implementation process of ACP by the CNC in the RACFs. The preliminary findings highlight the need to dispel the myths about ACP and Advanced Care Directives (ACDs), and how the CNC acted as a broker for ACP. The CNC's role is represented by a Nursing Brokerage Model. By revealing how ACP is implemented the research contributes to the limited existing knowledge of options that are currently available to older adults and their families in order to help them make care choices about the end of their lives.