IMPORTANCE Informing patients and providers of the likelihood of survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), neurologically intact or with minimal deficits, may be useful when discussing do-not-attempt-resuscitation orders. OBJECTIVE To develop a simple prearrest point score that can identify patients unlikely to survive IHCA, neurologically intact or with minimal deficits. DESIGN, SE...

Some children living with life-shortening medical conditions may wish to attend school without the threat of having resuscitation attempted in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest on the school premises. Despite recent attention to in-school do-not-attempt-resuscitation (DNAR) orders, no assessment of state laws or school policies has yet been made. We therefore sought to survey a national sampl...

OBJECTIVES To assess whether physicians know of Washington State's prehospital do-not-resuscitate (DNR) policy, 6 years after its implementation. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Washington State, April 2001. PARTICIPANTS Four hundred seventy-one practicing physicians. MEASUREMENTS Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine relationships between physician and practice ...

Most elderly patients die with an order in place that they not be given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNR order). Surveys have shown that many elderly in different parts of the world want to be resuscitated, but may lack knowledge about the specifics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Data from countries other than the US is limited, but differences in physician and patient opinions by na...

A retrospective case note review of 102 medical inpatients was conducted over a 4-week period and basic demographics, admitting/current diagnoses, comorbidities, functional level and length of stay were recorded. Existing DNAR orders were audited in accordance with national guidelines. An anonymised database of this information was reviewed by both an independent blinded consultant intensivist ...

Ethics series, we offer this POINT/COUNTERPOINT Debate and frame it with the following vignette: At Grand Rounds regarding end-of-life issues, a visiting professor offered that when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is unlikely to promote survival with a reasonable quality of life, he shares his assessment with the patient. If the patient does not object, he enters a “no CPR” order in the pat...

BACKGROUND Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) orders have been shown to be independently associated with patients receiving fewer treatments, reduced admission to intensive care and worse outcomes even after accounting for known confounders. The mechanisms by which they influence practice have not previously been studied. OBJECTIVES To present a rich qualitative description...

BACKGROUND over 60% of older people have at least one admission to hospital in their last year of life, with the majority of people having multiple admissions. In Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia, we have a diverse ethnic and cultural population. We were interested in bed utilisation, documentation, and follow through of "care plans" as well as "not for resuscitation" orders in the last ye...