Section 131.13. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1)  "Advance directive" means a written instruction, such as a living will under ch. 154 , Stats. , or a power of attorney for health care under ch. 155 , Stats. , or as otherwise recognized by the courts of the state, relating to the provision or nonprovision of health care when the individual is incapacitated.

(2)  "Advanced practice nurse" means a person who is certified as an advanced practice nurse as provided in ch. N 8 .

(3)  "Attending physician" means a person who is either a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery under ch. 448 , Stats. , or a nurse practitioner who meets the training, education, and experience requirements specified in s. DHS 105.20 (1) and the person is identified by the individual, at the time he or she elects to receive hospice care, as having the most significant role in the determination and delivery of the individual's medical care.

(4)  "Bereavement services" means emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual support and services provided before and after the death of the patient to assist with issues related to grief, loss, and adjustment.

(5)  "Core team" means a defined group within the hospice's interdisciplinary group that has represented on it physician, nurse, social worker and bereavement or other counseling services and that is responsible for all aspects of care and services to a patient and the patient's family.

(6)  "Department" means the Wisconsin department of health services.

(7)  "Employee" means a person who:

(a) Works for the hospice and for whom the hospice is required to issue a W–2 form on his or her behalf.

(b) If the hospice is a subdivision of an agency or organization, an employee of the agency or organization who is appropriately trained and assigned to the hospice.

(c) Is a volunteer under the jurisdiction of the hospice.

(8)  "Family member" means an individual with significant personal ties to the hospice patient who is designated a family member by mutual agreement between the individual and the patient.

(9)  "Hospice" means any of the following:

(a) An organization that primarily provides palliative care and supportive care to an individual with terminal illness where he or she lives or stays and, if necessary to meet the needs of an individual with terminal illness, arranges for or provides short-term inpatient care and treatment or provides respite care.

(b) A program within an organization that primarily provides palliative care and supportive care to an individual with terminal illness where he or she lives or stays, that uses designated staff time and facility services, that is distinct from other programs of care provided by the organization and, if necessary to meet the needs of an individual with terminal illness, that arranges for or provides short-term inpatient care and treatment or respite care.

(c) A place, including a freestanding structure or a separate part of a structure in which other services are provided, that primarily provides palliative and supportive care and a place of residence to individuals with terminal illness and provides or arranges for short-term inpatient care as needed.

(10)  "Hospice patient" or "patient" means an individual in the terminal stage of illness who has an anticipated life expectancy of 12 months or less and who has been admitted to the hospice.

(11)  "Interdisciplinary group" or "IDG" means the group of hospice employees which has represented on it the core team services and may, in addition, have physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and nurse aide services.

(12)  "Nurse aide" means an individual employed by or under contract to a hospice to provide nurse aide services as specified in s. DHS 131.26 (2) (b) under the supervision of a registered nurse.

(13)  "Palliative care" means patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Palliative care throughout the continuum of illness involves addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and to facilitate patient autonomy and access to information.

(14)  "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy under ch. 448 , Stats.

(15)  "Plan of care" means the written information that describes a patient's needs and related needs of the patient's family, goals and interventions by specified hospice employees or volunteers as well as a means for evaluating the effectiveness of the interventions.

(16)  "Registered nurse" means a person licensed as a registered nurse under ch. 441 , Stats.

(17)  "Representative" means an individual who has the authority under s. 50.94 , Stats., to authorize or terminate medical care or to elect or revoke the election of hospice care on behalf of a terminally ill patient who is mentally or physically incapacitated. This may include a legal guardian.

(18)  "Respite care" means care provided to a terminally ill individual in order to provide temporary relief to the primary caregiver.

(19)  "Restraint" means any of the following:

(a) Any manual method, physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a patient to move his or her arms, legs, body, or head freely, not including devices, such as orthopedically prescribed devices, surgical dressings or bandages, protective helmets, or other methods that involve the physical holding of a patient for the purpose of conducting routine physical examinations or tests, or to protect the patient from falling out of bed, or to permit the patient to participate in activities without the risk of physical harm that does not include a physical escort.

(b) A drug or medication when it is used as a restriction to manage the patient's behavior or restrict the patient's freedom of movement and is not a standard treatment or dosage for the patient's condition.

(20)  "Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a patient alone in a room or an area from which the patient is physically prevented from leaving.

(21)  "Short-term inpatient care" means care provided to a terminally ill individual in an inpatient setting for brief periods of time for the purpose of pain control or acute or chronic symptom management.

(22)  "Social worker" means an individual who holds a social worker certificate or a clinical social worker license under s. 457.08 , Stats.

(23)  "Supportive care" means services provided during the final stages of an individual's terminal illness and dying and after the individual's death to meet the psychosocial, social and spiritual needs of family members of the terminally ill individual and other individuals caring for the terminally ill individual.

(24)  "Terminal illness" means a medical prognosis by a doctor of medicine or osteopathy that an individual's life expectancy is less than 12 months.

(25)  "Volunteer" means an uncompensated staff person.

History: CR 10-034 : cr. Register September 2010 No. 657 , eff. 10-1-10.