The very, very old and sick who are full code

[firstyearstudent]

I am in my second semester and doing my Med-Surg II rotation and I am just trying to get my head around this. My patient today was 98 years old, on a ventilator, being fed through a PEG tube, had weeping edema and is barely conscious (in a twilight sleep most of the day). Why would family members keep this man a full code? Is seems so sad to me...

[softstorms]

I have been a nurse for 20 odd years or so, both in hospital settings and long term care.When I was young I could never imagine my parent being gone. I have watched many go, both DNR's and Full Codes. Today with all the advertising, we are called to make every attempt to keep living. Do this and take that and you will go on forever. If you do not, then it is the fault of some drug company or yourself, for not doing what you were told to do to live forever. Have we forgotten that we do not live forever? That old age and desease does happen, regardless of all the drugs and help we have? In the mean time, we vent pts, and put in peg tubes so they live a little longer just so we will not feel the lost.

[nialloh, RN]

Have you ever noticed that it is nearly always the nurse that informs/educates the pt/family about DNR's. Dr's rarely do. In fact, a lot of Dr's get in the way by telling them that "we can do this test, or that procedure", so giving a false sense of hope. I'm not saying that the Dr's are money grabbers or uncaring (although some are) ,some Dr's don't seem to understand that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. I have seen some Dr's I respect very highly do this.

I just wish we could present a united front. It would be less confusing.

[weirdRN, RN]

Have you ever noticed that it is nearly always the nurse that informs/educates the pt/family about DNR's. Dr's rarely do. In fact, a lot of Dr's get in the way by telling them that "we can do this test, or that procedure", so giving a false sense of hope. I'm not saying that the Dr's are money grabbers or uncaring (although some are) ,some Dr's don't seem to understand that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

See that is something I perceive as a flaw in the system. Docs are so afraid of every little lawsuit that rather than be honest with the family and tell them straight out that there is little hope for their loved one, they suggest test after test and procedure after procedure dragging out and prolonging the agony of both the person and the family.

As an earlier poster said, I would rather have my family around me and just go peacefully, with out all the bright lights alarms and tubes and lines and stuff. I think that most people feel that way. I think that but for the grace of God, I could someday be anyone of my patients. I hope that someone is as kind to me as I am to my patients.

[NurseyTonyaLPN]

I totally agree with you. If a person who is competent and knows he/she is terminal ill, they should be kept a full code if they want that, even if they're 110. But most times it's the family who decides this, they are more concerned about how they are going to deal with the death of their loved one. I've seen in my own family when a relative was dying of CA and on hospice, one of his daughters wanted more treatment that he did not want. It's so selfish to try to put your own wants/needs above that of your loved one who is dying