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Elderly Woman Dies After Nurse Refuses to Give Her CPR
abc ^
| 3/3/13
| Alyssa Newcomb
Posted on 03/03/2013 2:19:31 PM PST by Nachum
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To: Gay State Conservative
A DNR is a possibility I hadn’t considered and is a valid point.
That being said, if this lady did not have one I’m not sure I could have stood down and not attempted to help if I had that capability. Policy or not. I here there is a “Good Samaratin” law.
A sign of our troubled times, I guess.
21
posted on
03/03/2013 2:41:12 PM PST
by
berdie
To: Nachum
Doesn't a nurse's duty to the Hippocratic oath trump that of hospital policy? I smell a lawsuit coming against that criminally negligent nurse.
Oath: "The health and life of my patient will be my first consideration"
To: Nachum
Sorry, I’m sure that patient signed the DNR before they go into an end life facility. You can’t go against their final wishes. This was like this before Obamacare
23
posted on
03/03/2013 2:41:55 PM PST
by
MadelineZapeezda
(“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”....Ben Franklin)
To: berdie
24
posted on
03/03/2013 2:44:14 PM PST
by
berdie
To: ilovesarah2012
To: Nachum
If it was caused by V-fib or V-Tach a defibrillator could have saved her life, the sooner you shock the better the chances of survival. However, a lot of nursing homes and assisted living facilities don't even carry the automatic defibrillators like you see on the walls of airports. A nursing home I worked at didn't carry one because of “liability reasons.” I suspect they're worried about a lawsuit if a defib is used improperly.
To: oldbrowser
“Some facilities have been sued for intervening in spite of the Good Samaritan law. So many do not take a chance.”
This is entirely correct, and people should be aware of the reality of these situations. In my view, it is entirely acceptable for an elderly patient to state and document that they do not want to have resuscitation attempted if they suffer sudden death, but this has to be spelled out before hand, including the details of what they do and don't want done (e.g. attempted cardioversion, but no chest compressions or intubation, etc.). In cases in which a patient has requested this, and resuscitation attempts were made anyway, lawsuits have resulted. This is not the same as assisted suicide. This is a decision for non-intervention when natural death occurs. Of course, this begs the question of 'what is natural death?'.
To: Nachum
I was an ambulance medic for 20+ years and had my share of CPR calls in nursing facilities. The big question here is did this woman have "Do Not Resuscitate"(DNR) orders. I remember my first defibrillation experience was at a nursing home on a 93 year old woman. The facility was using a temporary nurse service so CPR was initiated. I responded with my squad and we initiated our code protocol. I attempted defibrillation without success. We then loaded her in the ambulance and continued CPR en route to the hospital. The ER doctor quickly declared the woman dead after only a short effort by ER staff. We were subsequently given hell by the doctor who asked why in heavens name would we start a code on a 93 year old woman. She had no chance from the beginning. We got off the hook when we explained CPR was initiated by the nursing home staff before we arrived. The nursing home staff also got an earful from the doctor. Turned out the woman's family had agreed to a DNR order, but the night staff were unaware.
I see a lot of similarities with this situation. Staff may have been hesitant to initiate CPR on an 87 year old and the chances of her surviving even if the CPR had been started is next to zero. Had she been resuscitated there would have been a good chance she would have been brain dead. There comes a point where DNR orders are appropriate.
To: Nachum
Thankfully it was not my mother because I know where both the “nurse” and I would be. The “nurse” would be in hell and I would be in jail.
29
posted on
03/03/2013 2:46:19 PM PST
by
sport
To: MadelineZapeezda
...Sorry, Im sure that patient signed the DNR before they go into an end life facility. You cant go against their final wishes. This was like this before Obamacare...Why call 911 then?
30
posted on
03/03/2013 2:48:19 PM PST
by
FReepaholic
(Stupidity is not a crime, so you're free to go.)
To: Nachum
In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility's policy for employees to perform CPR on residents. Who made the call? Why?
To: ilovesarah2012
I had to put my mother into a care facility a couple of times in 2010 when I went out of town. Each time I had to specify DNR or Full Code. I chose Full Code.
32
posted on
03/03/2013 2:48:58 PM PST
by
PLMerite
(Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
To: MadelineZapeezda
But 911 was called. Does that not in effect override a DNR?
When I was taking care of my terminally ill mother, hospice nurses told me specifically to NOT call an ambulance or they would be obligated to try revive her.
33
posted on
03/03/2013 2:48:59 PM PST
by
berdie
To: Nachum
When she checked into the Old Folks’ Home, she signed a DNR.
Her wishes were fulfilled.
34
posted on
03/03/2013 2:55:01 PM PST
by
OKRA2012
To: MadelineZapeezda
The incident unfolded on Tuesday when 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless collapsed at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield.It doesn't sound like it was an end life facility. I am not knowledgeable about this sort of thing. Did I miss something?
35
posted on
03/03/2013 2:55:20 PM PST
by
deoetdoctrinae
(Gun free zones are playgrounds for felons.)
To: Nachum; ExTexasRedhead
Death-Care ................................................................ FRegards
36
posted on
03/03/2013 2:56:44 PM PST
by
gonzo
( Buy more ammo, dammit! You should already have the firearms ... FRegards)
To: Last of the Mohicans
‘From the American HEART Association: Only an estimated 8% of victims who suffer a SCA outside of a hospital setting survive.’
What is your point?
37
posted on
03/03/2013 2:56:53 PM PST
by
surroundedbyblue
(Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
To: CAluvdubya
The Daily Mail reports the woman had signed a “do not resuscitate” order.
To: GrootheWanderer
To: Gay State Conservative
In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility's policy for employees to perform CPR on residents. Brain damage begins to set in after six minutes, except occasionally in the case of a cold water dry drowning. Hard call to make when your on a first responder dive team. I was on such a team years ago, and had to make that call twice. One lived, the other I had to take a pass. Both very hard calls.
I, also along with my two RN sisters had to make the same call for my 86 year old mother in 06. She had a DNR of her own volition. We respected her wishes.
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