An Overview of DNR Orders
Because the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order is often encountered by Volunteer Guardians in their course of volunteering, it is worth discussing.
A do-not-resuscitate order, or DNR order, is a medical order written by a doctor. It instructs health care providers not to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a patient’s breathing stops or if the patient’s heart stops beating.
What is a DNR?
Ideally, a DNR order is created, or set up, before an emergency occurs. A DNR order allows you to choose whether or not you want CPR in an emergency. It is specific about CPR. It does not have instructions for other treatments, such as pain medicine, other medicines, or nutrition.
The doctor writes the order only after talking about it with the patient (if possible), the proxy, or the patient’s family.
What is Resuscitation?
CPR is the treatment you receive when your blood flow or breathing stops. It may involve:
- Simple efforts such as mouth-to-mouth breathing and pressing on the chest
- Electric shock to restart the heart
- Breathing tubes to open the airway
- Medicines
Making the Decision
If you are near the end of your life or you have an illness that will not improve, you can choose whether you want CPR to be done.
- If you do want to receive CPR, you do not have to do anything.
- If you do not want CPR, talk with your doctor about a DNR order.
These can be hard choices for you and those who are close to you. There is no hard and fast rule about what you may choose.
Think about the issue while you are still able to decide for yourself.
- Learn more about your medical condition and what to expect in the future.
- Talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of CPR.
A DNR order may be a part of a hospice care plan. The focus of this care is not to prolong life, but to treat symptoms of pain or shortness of breath, and to maintain comfort.
If you have a DNR order, you always have the right to change your mind and request CPR.
How is a DNR Order Created?
If you decide you want a DNR order, tell your doctor and health care team what you want. Your doctor must follow your wishes, or:
- Your doctor may transfer your care to a doctor who will carry out your wishes.
- If you are a patient in a hospital or nursing home, your doctor must agree to settle any disputes so that your wishes are followed.
The doctor can fill out the form for the DNR order.
- The doctor writes the DNR order in your medical record if you are in the hospital.
- Your doctor can tell you how to get a wallet card, bracelet, or other DNR documents to have at home or in non-hospital settings.
- Standard forms may be available from your state’s Department of Health.
Make sure to:
- Include your wishes in an advance care directive (living will)
- Inform your health care agent (also called health care proxy) and family of your decision
If you do change your mind, talk with your doctor or health care team right away. Also tell your family and caregivers about your decision. Destroy any documents you have that include the DNR order.
When You are Unable to Make the Decision
Due to illness or injury, you may not be able to state your wishes about CPR. In this case:
- If your doctor has already written a DNR order at your request, your family may not override it.
- You may have named someone to speak for you, such as a health care agent. If so, this person or a legal guardian can agree to a DNR order for you.
If you have not named someone to speak for you, under some circumstances, a family member can agree to a DNR order for you, but only when you are not able to make your own medical decisions.
Alternative Names
No code; End-of-life; Do not resuscitate; Do not resuscitate order; DNR; DNR order; Advance care directive – DNR; Health care agent – DNR; Health care proxy – DNR; End-of-life – DNR; Living will – DNR
Other Types of End-of-Life Orders
A DNR may sound like an all-encompassing rejection of lifesaving interventions, but it’s actually very limited in scope. Non-cardiac emergencies are covered by other types of orders including living wills, DNIs, and ANDs.
DNR vs Living Will
A DNR order is sometimes confused with a living will, but these are two distinct orders with different areas of focus.
A living will covers ventilators, feeding tubes, blood transfusions, dialysis, and other interventions that may be attempted during a health emergency. Living wills are created by both healthy and ailing individuals, and they’re designed to take effect if you cannot express your wishes during a health emergency. They do not cover resuscitation.
A do-not-resuscitate order is strictly focused on resuscitation in the form of CPR, cardiac drugs, or defibrillation. It says that medical personnel will not try to revive you if your heart stops. Unlike living wills, these orders are seldom requested by healthy individuals; they’re most requested by frail, ailing, and elderly patients on whom CPR might be more harmful than beneficial.
DNR vs DNI
DNI stands for “do not intubate.” Whereas a DNR prohibits doctors from resuscitating a stopped heart, a DNI prohibits doctors from inserting a breathing tube to prolong a patient’s life. A DNI does not apply to resuscitation.
For an ailing patient who wants to bar all aggressive life-saving measures, it may be advisable to establish both a DNR and a DNI. A DNR covers cardiac arrest while a DNI covers respiratory failure and related conditions.
DNR vs AND
An allow-natural-death order (AND) is used by certain hospitals in place of a traditional DNR. Whereas the classic DNR disallows all attempts to revive a patient with no heartbeat, an AND more specifically dictates that medical personnel should only use comfort measures to control pain and other symptoms.
For instance, an AND may permit doctors to withhold resuscitations, intubations, and any other treatments that only serve to prolong the person’s life without preserving the quality of life. In many cases, it can serve the purposes of a DNR, a DNI, and a living will, as it’s strictly concerned with ensuring the patient’s comfort while allowing nature to take its course.