Adults 65 and older, who were hospitalized for a variety of medical conditions, had highly satisfying conversations about whether they wanted CPR, regardless of whether doctors used the terms “allow a natural death” or “do not resuscitate” for indicating no CPR, according to a pilot study by Rutgers Health researchers.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, sought to determine the best language doctors could use when discussing a patient’s code status to reduce the barrier to having these conversations. It found that it takes less than five minutes on average for doctors to have discussions going over what CPR is, what a patient’s preference might be and making a decision that patients felt comfortable with regarding whether they want to be resuscitated, according to the study. To read the full story.