How can advance care planning improve end of life care for nursing home residents?

This Practice Question has been published with the kind permission of the Royal College of Nursing.

For nursing home residents living with complex co-morbidities, including frailty, unplanned hospital admissions can be a common occurrence (McGlade et al 2017). Such admissions are associated with a decline in functional status, problems unrelated to the reason for admission, and increased mortality rates during admission and after discharge (Graverholt et al 2011).