Re: DNR Tattoo Originally Posted by angel_nurse_83 
"but a friend of mine says she thinks that nurses and doctors still cannot abide by her wishes if any family members do not agree with her DNR request"
If the pt. is competent of making her own decision ... (evaluated by health care professionals upon admission) it is her choice that will be followed and it will not be overridden by family members who are in mourning and grieving even about the fact that she might die...
Competant- pt makes decision about her care.
Incompetant- Substitute decision maker, Power of attourney for care.. or if this pt. does not have any family or friends whom she appointed to be one of these roles the state will appoint someone to make this decision.
It would be nice if it were that simple, but you can't depend on your wishes being followed, even if you've taken all the correct, legal steps, if your family members at the bedside want you kept alive. I have literally seen it happen. Hospital attorneys will be glad to explain the reasoning to you -- there is a much greater risk that the hospital and doctors will get sued by the family members if the loved one is allowed to die peacefully (as s/he wished) than there is that anyone will sue for being kept alive when they didn't want to be ... So they choke and take the "safer" route.
The friend's (in the original quote) doctors
can abide by her wishes, but there's a good chance they
won't if there are family members at the bedside who disagree with her choices.
BTW, I also joked for years about having "no code" or "do not resuscitate" tattooed across my chest, but a healthcare attorney in my state assured me, when I mentioned this in casual conversation, that the tottoo would have no legal significance in my state.
Nursing News