 |
 |
Resuscitation (CPR) |
|
 The
many meanings of "DNR"
Deciding whether or not you want a DNR order sounds so simple. And
yet, this decision often causes much anxiety for families and health
care providers. Why? Because these decisions are usually put off until
the patient is too sick to be a part of the conversation. And making
the decision means acknowledging that you are likely to die. To hospital
staff, the DNR decision is a sign that things are pretty bad.
Yet it is important that this decision be made. Without a written
order, doctors and nurses will attempt resuscitation. Nurses and doctors
who are likely to have to try the resuscitation are reasonably upset
over the prospects of having to do such a brutal procedure with little
chance of success. So, if you are the patient or family, you have
some real control in this situation. First, figure out whether you
really want resuscitation tried, on the basis of its chances of success
and how you would prefer to die. Then, if you want no resuscitation
but you don't want to be counted as one who has given up, insist that
the doctor write an order that makes that clear. State clearly what
you do and do not want done. Then the doctor can make clear in the
record that you want no resucitation but you do want diagnosis and
treatment for anything else that occurs. |
|
Adapted from The
Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness,
by Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, copyright by Joanne Lynn, used by
permission of Oxford University Press.
|
|
|
