Why did staff refuse to give woman CPR?

CPR is not all that it is "cracked" up to be.

It has a lot of hugely negative aspects. First, it breaks ribs, which is an extremely painful injury to have.

Secondly, it rarely extends the person's life more than a few days while they die in agony with broken ribs.

Not giving CPR is a blessing and an enlightened policy for elderly people.

She did the right thing not further crippling the poor lady who died. Had the woman been given CPR it most likely have made her final minutes excruciatingly (sp?) painful.

She was in a nursing home and had prolly already signed a DNR and the Nurse was prolly respecting her wishing and doing her job. Now if there was no DNR the yea the nurse should be in trouble.

5 dead stars.

5 dead stars.

A 911 operator urges a staffer at a senior living center to perform CPR on an unconscious woman. KGET reports.

[link to www.cnn.com]




THIS BRINGS UP A GOOD QUESTION?? After I read To Heaven and Back by Neal

I feel we should not always do CPR do you??

I just noticed something.......

There is no contract stating that CPR will not be administered.

The contract states that in this situation the employee is to call emergency services and stay with the patient until they arrive. In most situations this is fine. They are to do nothing until the emergency services arrive.

Why?

Because they do not want to be sued.

Remember the guy that refused to help a pregnant woman even though he was an off duty emergency worker. That is what they are told to do even though good samaritan laws should protect them from any type of litigation.

[quoteMV8yMTU3MjcyXzM2NDYyNTMxX0I1NDAxRDU5]
It is true that this country is down the tubes, very especially regarding our elders. I take care of a 'very senior' senior who is a family member. I see the attitude of even doctors with elders, even those doctors who specialize in elder medical care. It's like the attitude is that 'well, this person has lived long enough and therefore they do not, in my estimation, deserve to live any longer or receive the same care as others, and certainly not in any dignified manner.'

And I disagree with all of the above. It's the latest "playing God trickling down effect".

As to whether the worker should have performed CPR - WELL HELL YES!

it's my understanding that this particular place is an independent living facility not a skilled nursing facility.

Also to consider: The Legal Aspect.

I've been told that if you attempt to do CPR on a person and they die anyway, YOU can be SUED because you FAILED to perform CPR properly (or one of many other trumped up charges).

..And if you DO decide to risk litigation, you must continue doing CPR until EMTs arrive and take over.

If they had a DNR and you do CPR, you get sued.

If they didn't have DNR and you do CPR, and they die, you get sued.

No longer can anyone be a "Good Samaritan" without risk of being sued for not being "Good ENOUGH Samaritan".

Blech.

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.

There's two schools of thought on this issue:

The news report is that this facility was not prepared for critically ill people, so they "did not know how" to perform CPR.

The second issue to consider is did this woman have a living will declaring "DNR?"

My wife and I moved in with my grandmother for the final year of her life to help take care of her. She had alzheimers. The family decided to not seek to try to extend her life through respirators or feeding tubes or CPR or anything like that. What would have been the point? She lived a very long and good life and we let her go in her time.

I've worked in a few nursing homes, and for me - what we were told is: You can only do CPR is the person does NOT have a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order. If they did have an DNR, you aren't supposed to.

She was in a nursing home and had prolly already signed a DNR and the Nurse was prolly respecting her wishing and doing her job. Now if there was no DNR the yea the nurse should be in trouble.

ALL CNA's & nurses go thru a CPR course at some point during their schooling.