Do Not Resuscitate

The health care industry changes more dramatically and more often than any other business (Sultz & Young, 2010). One of the most dramatic changes that affect every patient is the extraordinary ability and implementation of life saving measures. Even when there is no brain activity at all, patients can be kept alive on respirators that breathe oxygen in and out of their bodies. When a patient’s heart has stopped beating, a defibrillator can be used to jolt their heart back alive and beating again. Even though a life saving measure of one kind or another is capable of being utilized, there are some patients that do not wish to have anything done; they do not want to be brought back to life. As with any end of life decision, there are ethical issues that need to be addressed in order to fully and ethically complete a do-not- resuscitate order. A do-not-resuscitate order is one that is “given by a physician indicating that in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest “no” resuscitative measures should be used to revive the patient” (Pozgar & Santucci, 2010, pg. 132). The physician can write the do-not-resuscitate order at the request of the family, appointed caregiver, or from information obtained from an advanced directive (Pozgar & Santucci, 2010). Originally, the history of the do-not-resuscitate order stems from the case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri dept. of Health, 497 U.S. 261, 110 S. Ct. 28411 (1990); the outcome of the case was that is it “recognized that a competent person had a constitutionally protected liberty interest in refusing unwanted medical treatment” (Pozgar & Santucci, 2010, pg. 121). If a patient does not want to be resuscitated after cardiac arrest, then they have the right to choose to die. These orders are most commonly used in advanced stages of disease, elderly patients, or when a physician feels that life saving measures would not benefit the patient and only do more harm than good (Pozgar & Santucci,

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