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.