When you're admitted to a hospital, you're routinely encouraged to sign a Do Not Resuscitate order, also known as a DNR.
Don't assume it will be applied only in extreme circumstances.
New research shows having those three letters on your chart could put you on course to getting less medical and nursing care throughout your stay.
Fewer MRIs and CT scans, fewer medications or even fewer bedside visits from doctors.
A DNR could cost you your life.
Having a DNR means that if your heart stops or you can't breathe, medical staff will let you die naturally, instead of rushing to give you cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Correctly interpreted, a DNR bars just that one procedure — resuscitation.
But researchers are discovering that many doctors and nurses take DNR to mean you want end-of-life care only.
They misconstrue DNR as Dying, Not Recovering.
They even hesitate to put DNR patients in the ICU when they need intensive care.
No wonder patients with DNRs have worse recovery rates than patients with identical conditions and no DNRs..."
Read on!
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