Oregonians with serious illness or frailty are more likely to have their end-of-life care wishes honored, less likely to be hospitalized, and more likely to use home hospice services than the rest of the country.

​Not all states allow nurse practitioners to make a patient’s treatment wishes part of their medical record, yet a six-year study concludes that they can improve seriously ill patients’ access to advance-care planning. Nurse practitioners often serve as the primary care provider or a member of the team caring for patients in the last months of their lives when they are most likely to seek end-of-life treatment counseling.