Resuscitation: outcomes, ethics and accountability

The third and last part of Nursing Standard's series on resuscitation deals with the difficult issues of outcomes, ethics and responsibility. In particular, the vexed question of when not to resuscitate is aired: statistics show the remarkably poor success rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which suggests that this invasive and sometimes brutal procedure is carried out inappropriately on individuals who are consequently denied the right to a peaceful death. Doctors and nurses, the author argues, become sensitive to when a life is ending naturally, and should be allowed to restrict the use of CPR to those for whom it is likely to help.