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Do Not Resuscitate Orders

The environment surrounding Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) status for patients has been shaped by advancing technology and rising costs. These factors, combined with a greater freedom of choice for patients, have begun to pressure physicians regarding the moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding DNR orders. Conventional medical practitioners were trained to restore health through any means at their disposal. However, technology has advanced to the point where despite the quality of life, human beings can be kept alive artificially. Critics of DNR argue that patients and health care professional are too quick to choose DNR because of costs and a focus on the patient’s right to choose, “Everyone, from health care professionals to patients and their relatives, needs to be aware of the subtle ways in which legitimate concerns about costs and personal autonomy can erode care and even our regard for the sanctity of life” (Goerner, 1997, 21).

There are many ethical considerations when it comes to DNR status. DNR status is typically instituted among heart and liver transplant patients, but it is also something patients can have written into a living will many years before it might become an issue. Further, intensive care unit patients often need resuscitated and, without having chosen DNR status before the need, relatives often are faced with the decision of adopting DNR status for their loved ones and doctors are often faced with having to elicit their feelings on the issue. This creates ethical considerations such as approaching bereaved relatives about a DNR status decision in a time of crisis. As one physician states, “When someone is critically ill and in the hospital, it’s difficult to broach this issue. We have to prepare for the worst without extinguishing hope that they can live longer. It’s a fine balance and a difficult thing to do well” (Koenig, 1998, 1).

Further, the exact terms and definitions surrounding DNR...

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Do Not Resuscitate Orders. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 20:19, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1685326.html