................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 ABBREVIATIONS AND DE...

OBJECTIVE There is concern that do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders may lead to stroke patients receiving less aggressive treatment and poorer care. Our objectives were to assess the relationship between DNR orders and quality of stroke care among veterans. METHODS A cohort of 3,965 acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to 131 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities in fiscal year 2007 ...

BACKGROUND Documentation of resuscitation status in hospitalized patients has relevance in the management of cardiopulmonary arrest. Its association with mortality, Length Of hospital Stay (LOS) and the patients' primary diagnosis has not been established in general medical inpatients in hospitals in Australia and New Zealand. AIM To investigate the association of resuscitation orders with in...

BACKGROUND Decisions regarding Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) orders remain demanding, as does including patients in the process. OBJECTIVES To explore physicians' justification for CPR/DNAR orders and decisions regarding patient inclusion, as well as their reports of how they initiated discussions with patients. METHODS We administered a face-t...

The current demographical trend towards an increasingly elderly population combined with advances in end of life care calls for a deeper understanding and common terminology about the concept of futility and additional influences on the resuscitation decision-making process. Such improved understanding of medical futility and other contributing factors when making DNACPR orders would help to en...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the relationship between two methods to communicate treatment preferences (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program vs traditional practices) and documentation of life-sustaining treatment orders, symptom assessment and management, and use of life-sustaining treatments. DESIGN Retrospective observational cohort study conducted between June 2006 and...

The Tracey Report has recently raised the status of Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) orders in the hospital setting.[1] Guidelines are in place both nationally and locally to provide advice to clinicians on when to discuss DNACPR, and the approach to be taken. There was concern that on a busy regional vascular surgery unit, discussion of resuscitation status was not regula...

AIM To determine whether in patients with an ambulance response time of >5min who were in VF cardiac arrest, 3min of CPR before the first defibrillation was more effective than immediate defibrillation in improving survival to hospital discharge. METHODS This randomised control trial was run by the South Australian Ambulance Service between 1 July, 2005, and 31 July, 2007. Patients in VF arre...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) orders and the Universal Form of Treatment Options ('UFTO': an alternative approach that contextualizes the resuscitation decision within an overall treatment plan) on nurses' decision making about a deteriorating patient. METHODS An online survey with a developing ...