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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| An analysis of CPR decision-making by elderly patients | | Author(s) | Gwen M Sayers, Irene Schofield, Michael Aziz |
| Journal title | Journal of Medical Ethics, vol 23, no 4, August 1997 |
| Pages | pp 207-212 |
| Keywords | Medical care ; Dying ; In-patients ; Rights [elderly] ; Social ethics. |
| Annotation | Traditionally clinicians have determined their patients' resuscitation status without consultation. This has been condemned as morally indefensible in cases where not for resuscitation (NFR) orders are based on quality of life considerations, and when the patient's true wishes are not known. Such instances would encompass most resuscitation decisions in older patients. Having previously involved patients in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) decision-making, the authors explore the reasons behind the choices made. Although patients were not upset and readily decided at the time of initial consultation, later analysis uncovered poor understanding of the procedure, poor recall of information given, and in some cases evidence of harm. This may be attributed to impaired decision-making capacity of older hospitalised patients as previously shown, or to discomfort precipitated by having to contemplate the apparent immediacy of cardiac arrest by these patients. It is proposed that subscribing to autonomy as a general principle needs to be balanced against particular cases where distress may be caused by, or result in, diminished competence and limited autonomy. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980423234 A |
| Classmark | LK: CX: LF7: IKR: TQ |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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