POLST

noun

ˈpōlst 

plural POLSTs

: a medical form that outlines the wishes of a person with a usually serious, progressive health condition regarding life-sustaining measures and end-of-life care (such as life support, palliative care, or CPR), and that must be signed by an authorized health care professional (such as a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) : molst

Consider asking your parents' doctor for a POLST form—Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment—that will tell emergency medical workers, hospital staff and others about the level of medical intervention your parent wants in a medical emergency when they can't speak for themselves.

—Lindy Washburn and Scott Fallon

Unlike most other medical orders, POLST also travels with a patient across medical settings from one place to another, so it is good at a nursing home and a hospital. … POLST forms would have information about CPR, sections for individual and health-care practitioner's signatures, and procedures for verbal consent.

—The Record Herald (Waynesboro, Pennsylvania)

POLSTs can be filled out for anyone, but are particularly recommended for people with serious acute or chronic illnesses and those with terminal or progressive diseases who are at high risk for sudden medical events …

—Dustin Ballard

compare advance directive, dnr entry 1

Examples of POLST in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The parent might sign a Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) that can instruct medical providers directly regarding their wishes. —Martin Shenkman, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Physician's Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment

Note: Because the legal basis for such orders varies from state to state, there is no uniform interpretation of this initialism. In addition to physician, the initial P can stand for practitioner, provider, portable and (in Pennsylvania) Pennsylvania. In Tennessee the equivalent is POST—"Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment."

First Known Use

1997, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

POLST

abbreviation or noun

ˈpōlst 

: a medical form that outlines the wishes of a person with a usually serious, progressive health condition regarding life-sustaining measures and end-of-life care (such as life support, palliative care, or CPR), and that must be signed by an authorized health-care professional (such as a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) : molst

… a preprinted physician order form called Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). When a patient is too sick to make decisions, the POLST specifies what a physician is to do in four categories of medical treatment: (1) CPR; (2) the level of medical intervention (ranging from comfort care at home to intensive hospital treatments); (3) antibiotic use; (4) feeding tubes and IV fluids (long term or short term). Patients keep the original POLST with them in the event of an emergency.

—Melinda A. Lee et al., Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

compare advance directive, dnr entry 2