Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Resuscitation, DNR orders and ethical issues for health care staff. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which looks at the medical and ethical issues surrounding resuscitation and DNR orders, with reference to specific legal cases and current guidelines and Trust policies relating to resuscitation. Bibliography lists 15 sources.
Page Count:
22 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLresusc.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
not so much with resuscitation itself but with the occasions on which resuscitation is not appropriate. It is therefore necessary to take into account not only the problems surrounding an
a priori assumption that the health care professional should be concerned to preserve life at all costs - which is not always the case - but also the impact which
improved technology has had on resuscitation issues and the social, economic and cultural aspects of these changes. Let us start, therefore, with a
brief overview of the policies relating to CPR before looking in more detail at the issues raised by DNR orders. The UK Clinical Ethics Network (2005) cites the policies in
operation in Leeds teaching hospitals, as being representative of those found in British hospitals. The Leeds guidelines are based on the guidelines set out by the BMA, the Resuscitation Council
and the RCN and state that in general, CPR can be attempted on anyone who suffers a cardiopulmonary arrest: the guidelines then go on to clarify certain exceptions.
For example, for some patients such an arrest represents an "expected terminal event", and therefore resuscitation would not be appropriate. Others may have
already formally expressed the wish not to be resuscitated in the case of cardiopulmonary arrest and set out such wishes in the form of an Advance Statement. Where the patient
is not competent to express an informed opinion, then medical staff are expected to act in such a way that the patients best interests are served, and here we encounter
a number of "grey areas" in terms of ethical issues and best practice, which will be considered in more detail later. The Leeds guidelines state that medical staff are expected
...