What about CPR and DNR? What do these terms mean?
I've heard the CPR stands for Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitations and DNR stands for Do not Resuscitate. What does this really mean?
"Do Not Resuscitate" is a medical order that means that, should your heart stop, you will not be given CPR, or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. With a "DNR" order, you WILL NOT RECEIVE "mouth to mouth" resuscitation and chest compressions should your heart stop. It also means that you DO NOT wish to be put on a respirator to assist your breathing. Being a 'Full Code' means you want resuscitation, and all of the possible medical life-saving bells and whistles. With a "Partial Code", you receive resuscitation and some of the other assistance, depending on what is needed.
If you are ill, your physician will likely ask you if you, or your loved one, would like to be a 'Full Code' and be fully resuscitated, or not. The answer to these questions, like many others we've considered in this section, depends on the particular circumstances of the medical situation.
If you have a terminal disease, and/or are quite elderly or ill, it may not be best for you to have "Full Resuscitation." This is because, when a person dies naturally of a terminal disease or is quite elderly, CPR is very minimally successful. Most of the time, it doesn't make sense to get a person's heart and lungs re-started and "bring a person back from the dead," when we cannot cure the primary underlying terminal disease, and they will go through the dying process again sooner rather than later. Also, if a person is elderly and has fragile bones, (or cancer has caused the bones to be brittle), it can not only be futile to do CPR, but it can be painful to survive even for a short time.
2006 Eileen T. Geller. Updated 2009.
Please see our important disclaimer.