Limiting treatment in long-term care facilities: the need for policies or guidelines.

Carefully constructed policies or guidelines for the limitation of treatment in long-term care facilities are necessary to ensure that such limitation is consistent with ethical and legal principles. These protocols can be useful in protecting the rights of the residents, improving service, assuring the accountability of health care professionals, educating staff, and preventing legal controversies. Even the best protocol cannot eliminate controversy regarding decisions about limitation of treatment, but a clearly articulated policy can provide a process for addressing these concerns in a manner that takes into account the rights and responsibilities of all involved.