Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - Essay Example Yet it also finds that few hospitals to date have any such written policies and standards. The paper thus recommends that a more inclusive information system be instilled in the healthcare system such that family members of such threatened patients be presented with the option to witness these procedures. It also recommends that healthcare providers of such procedures, if they feel constrained in any manner by such witnessing, may be assisted to change their viewpoints or overcome their constraints in such a manner that their comfort at work is not compromised by such witnessing. This paper contrives to seek out, from the nursing point of view, whether family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and invasive procedures is really necessary and helpful without being an impedance to the relevant nursing staff. In a life-threatening situation (meriting Code Blue status) where patient breathing stops under unnatural or suspicious circumstances cardiopulmonary resuscitation is applied by the present nursing staff with immediate notification to a physician and the nursing supervisor. The same applies for invasive procedures to a large extent. ... ften find themselves in the midst of an ethical dilemma where, on the one side, there are the family members of patient liable to CPR or invasive procedure and, on the other, those physicians and healthcare professionals applying the resuscitation measures (Nibert, 2005) or invasive procedure measures. There are reports of nurses subjected to such dilemmas conceding that they have received no instructional advice in their training programs to allow them to resolve and mitigate such ethical problems (Nibert, 2005). Thus, this paper's intention to investigate various positions on this issue is deemed important and crucial to dispensation of care to critically-ill patients. Background As early as 1987, Doyle et al, in a pioneering study, decided to allow family presence during CPR at their institution (McClenathan et al, 2002). Since then more studies have proceeded and the research findings, instead of conclusively providing evidence to one side, have added to the present state of controversy where there is no general consensus on whether such family presence during this crucial life-supporting and invasive procedure is either beneficial or essential. In the August 22, 2000, issue of 'Circulation' the American Heart Association published its guidelines for family-witnessed resuscitation procedures (McClenathan et al, 2002). It is also noted that the 'Emergency Nurses Association' has since endorsed family-witnessed CPR and recommend that hospitals develop concomitant policies accordingly (Critchell and Marik, 2007). Other healthcare professional bodies similar to these have followed suit but, to date, there are very few hospitals that have actually and actively e xerted themselves in this direction and set