A prospective trial of a new policy eliminating signed consent for do not resuscitate orders

摘要

BACKGROUND: Some institutions require patients and families to give signed consent for Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, especially in New York State. As this may be a barrier to discussions about DNR orders, we changed a signed consent policy to a witnessed verbal consent policy, simplified and modified the DNR order forms, and educated the staff at 1 hospital, comparing the effects with an affiliated hospital where the policy was not changed.