Surrogate decision-making and ethics committees: the new role of the New York State nurse

"When Others Must Choose: Deciding for Patients Without Capacity" is health care legislation proposed for New York state. Its intent is to remedy the absence of legal authority for families or other surrogates to make treatment decisions for their incapacitated loved ones who have neither completed an advance directive nor designated a health care agent. This paper provides a summary of this legislation and highlights nursing implications and the role of the nurse as a member of institutional ethics committees.