I think a lot of people are missing a critical point - regardless of the 'type' of facility this is, it has a clear policy that nurses employed by the facility CANNOT give CPR to patients/residents and in the event emergency medical care is needed they must call 911 and remain with the patient but CANNOT give CPR.
This is a policy that, I am certain, is explained in detail to family members prior to residents moving in.
The daughter of the woman was interviewed following the incident, and she indicated that she had no problem with the way the facility/nurse handled the situation.
So, regardless of a DNR, the nurse did her job - as advertised.
Not EVERYONE desires a life prolonged by artificial means - some people respect the fact that we all die eventually and want a little bit of dignity when the time comes. The woman was in her 80's if I recall - CPR would have broken ribs, the length of time she was deprived of oxygen could have resulted in brain damage and she may have spent the remaining months of her life in pain, in bed and possibly a vegetable. This matter, this end of life care and decision making, was NOT the business of the dumb dispatcher who believed she knew better than the care facility and the woman's family.
Quoting: Em18966 I have tried saying repeatedly this issue has nothing to do with DNR, and that is not what this issue is about, lol, I give up though, too many people not reading it all and still think that is the issue. oh well.
It does have to do with the type of facility though in agreement to your point. I posted the laws on SNFs earlier in the thread, which states their federal and state legal obligations....which contradict their policies. This facility, upon admittance, patients must sign a contract that they acknowledge they will not be rescuitated if they are there, and they will call 911 or someone else if medical care is needed. So the facility, thinks because of this signed contract, and because they called 911 they get to wash their hands of this. But because they are an SNF and the laws surrounding SNFs, regardless of what their contracts and policies state, they are in the wrong. That is why they are reviewing their policies now. They are going to get sued for sure.
Now the grey area that I think is the most interesting issue here ----
Is did this nurse do what she was supposed to do?
She was compliant with her employers policies(though they are incorrect), yes, so this should absolve her of wrong doing right?
But lets ask these two questions:
1) When she was asked by the 911 to do cpr and refusing, did she open herself up to some type of liability issue?
2) As a provider,she gave an oath. Does this create a a liability issue?
For the nurse only, this is a sticky situation. I dont think the answer to that is so clear cut and dry, you could defend in either direction.
For the facility, shame on them.
