The do-not-resuscitate order in teaching hospitals

Abstract

Resuscitation orders were studied in three teaching hospitals that do\nnot have official do-not-resuscitate (DNR) protocols, primarily to determine\nwhether they met the goals of pre-crisis decision making and promotion of\npatient autonomy. Patients and families were rarely (25%) involved when no\ndecision or a decision to resuscitate was made, while a DNR decision usually\n(83%) involved the patient and/or family. In almost 20% of the cases the\nfamily but not the competent patient was involved. A wide range of care and\neven partial resuscitative efforts were provided DNR patients. The authors\nconclude with six proposals to improve DNR protocols. (KIE abstract)