Articles Tagged With: DNR
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Malpractice Lawsuits Allege Wrongful Prolongation of Life
The top problems in these cases are charting and communication among caregivers.
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Multiple Legal Issues with ED End-of-Life Care
An attorney argues missing the opportunity to respect autonomy in care decision-making for a patient who no longer desires curative care should be considered a poor outcome.
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Malpractice Lawsuits Allege Wrongful Prolongation of Life
The top problems in these cases are charting and communication among caregivers.
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New Requirements Are Discouraging Physicians from Writing DNR Orders
Ethicists should help develop related protocols. For practitioners, code status conversations should be treated with the seriousness of surgery. That means involving the right people and taking the time to ensure medical understanding and prognosis, as well as patient values and goals, before talking about a care plan. When possible, practitioners should bring up DNR at the end of a meaningful conversation.
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Study: More Than Half of DNR ED Patients Resuscitated Against Their Wishes
Of 419 cardiac arrest patients, 65 were DNR status. Of this group of DNR patients, 38 were resuscitated against their wishes. Not adhering to a patient’s wishes not only violates their autonomy, but it is arguably not acting in the patient’s best interest — and may in fact be causing them harm.
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For Some Patients with Valid DNRs, Confusion Results in Unwanted CPR
Some DNR orders were not documented anywhere in the medical record. ED staff sometimes failed to recognize DNR orders that were documented. Other patients had advance directives, but no valid DNR order.
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Ethical Concerns with Variation in Hospitals’ Code Status Options
Some ethicists are unaware of how code status options are named and defined at their institutions. Researchers found that at some hospitals, code status options in the electronic medical record did not even match what was in the hospital policy. Ethics should be one of the experts in this area. -
Ethical Guidance Needed if Someone Wants to Override Patient’s Wishes
Hospitals could put a policy in writing to make clear the obligation of staff to follow a patient’s previously expressed decisions and the obligation of the surrogate to make the decision the patient would want, not the decision the surrogate would want.