Advance Directives at End-of-Life: Nursing Home Resident Preferences for Artificial Nutrition

In this nursing home sample, advance directives were significant documents guiding decisions on artificial nutrition, and feeding tubes were in fact uncommon at the end of life. The study suggests that advance care planning, quality palliative care training, and administrative support are necessary for the honoring of preferences. Future research is needed to examine more broadly tube-feeding practices and prevalence in nursing homes.