Woman Dies After Nurse Refuses to do CPR

[jjenny]

87 does NOT equal unhealthy age in general. My father is 91, has survived 3 heart attacks, pneumonia, and diabetes. He's outlived my mother- at 83, still travels frequently, works by choice, lives in his own house, is mentally lucid, and is going strong. Age is no indicator of longevity!!!

And in this woman's case, her family says she didn't want intervention. She wanted to die naturally.
Is that too much to ask?

"Our mother and grandmother was a remarkable and intelligent woman who was blessed to have a great life of 87 years. It is the wish of our family to honor and celebrate her life at this personal time. Like so many Seniors, it was our mother's wish to live independently. She was fully-aware that Glenwood Gardens did not offer trained medical staff. Even so, she personally-selected the senior living community, and our family has come to know the staff and been very pleased with Glenwood Gardens as her home. It was our beloved mother and grandmother's wish to die naturally and without any kind of life-prolonging intervention. Our family respects the right of all people to make their own life choices in such cases."

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/05/statement-from-family-of-elderly-woman-denied/#ixzz2MjCUI6eW
- vcstar.com

 

[STEADFAST]

And in this woman's case, her family says she didn't want intervention.

Or maybe her family didn't want intervention. Hard to know without a DNR signed by the woman herself.

 

[LinasK]

And in this woman's case, her family says she didn't want intervention.

Doesn't matter if she didn't have a written DNR on file with the facility. They should have done CPR. This employee has been placed on leave from her job. She was not a nurse, or even a CNA (she was some sort of activities director type) and refused to hand over the phone. She apparently misinterpreted facility policy according to the article Steadfast linked.

 

[STEADFAST]

If she did not have a DNR/No Code in writing, I would fully expect the facility to perform CPR. This is a written legal document.

I would expect that, too. The facility says the "nurse" misunderstood their policy. Both of my parents are older than this woman, and neither have signed a DNR because both plan to try to live as long as possible. I don't think I'll have the same attitude, but you never know.

 

[LinasK]

I would expect that, too. The facility says the "nurse" misunderstood their policy. Both of my parents are older than this woman, and neither have signed a DNR because both plan to try to live as long as possible. I don't think I'll have the same attitude, but you never know.

More power to your parents! My father feels the exact same way at age 91. He's traveling to Hawaii at the end of the month and has an Alaskan cruise planned after that.

 

[jjenny]

Or maybe her family didn't want intervention. Hard to know without a DNR signed by the woman herself.

Yea, cause we can just presume we know better than them. By the way this lady apparently had a massive stroke. I can only imagine her quality of life if somebody did CPR on her.

"The preliminary death certificate filed with the county shows Lorraine Bayless suffered a massive stroke. The determination was made by her personal physician."

http://www.kget.com/news/local/stor...resident-suffered/-Q89tciw1k2qUGi8Xl8kGQ.cspx

 

[jjenny]

I would expect that, too. The facility says the "nurse" misunderstood their policy. Both of my parents are older than this woman, and neither have signed a DNR because both plan to try to live as long as possible. I don't think I'll have the same attitude, but you never know.

Well, after the massive storke this woman apparenlty suffered, the best she would likely hope for is to exist as long as possible attached to some machine. Her family is very clear she didn't want any of that.

 

[LinasK]

Yea, cause we can just presume we know better than them. By the way this lady apparently had a massive stroke. I can only imagine her quality of life if somebody did CPR on her.
http://www.kget.com/news/local/stor...resident-suffered/-Q89tciw1k2qUGi8Xl8kGQ.cspx

It doesn't matter whether we know better than the family or not, regardless of quality of life. Without a written DNR, the facility is legally obligated to perform CPR. I'm fairly sure of this based on 13 years of work experience.

 

[jjenny]

It doesn't matter whether we know better than the family or not, regardless of quality of life. Without a written DNR, the facility is legally obligated to perform CPR. I'm fairly sure of this based on 13 years of work experience.

Well I am glad it was not done. Elderly woman dying from a massive stroke, then do a CPR on her? She wanted to die naturally and thankfully she was able to do that, rather than prolonging her life that would rather likely have no quality at all.

 

[michmi]

As my own grandmother was recently killed by nursing home neglect, this sort of story hits me hard.

This isn't a nursing home, though. It's independent living.

That said, policy or not, if I was a nurse or aide there I would have given CPR and then if I was fired I'd sue the facility.

They have this policy so nobody can sue them for breaking an elder person's rib or otherwise hurting them doing CPR. The people running this corporation are bean counters and hotel people, this part of the company does no health care at all. It's a glorified apartment.

 

[MNlady]

This isn't a nursing home, though. It's independent living.

That said, policy or not, if I was a nurse or aide there I would have given CPR and then if I was fired I'd sue the facility.

They have this policy so nobody can sue them for breaking an elder person's rib or otherwise hurting them doing CPR. The people running this corporation are bean counters and hotel people, this part of the company does no health care at all. It's a glorified apartment.

Yes, this facility has 3 sections: Independent Living which is an apartment, Assisted Living which is with care givers if needed and wanted and a nursing home with total care. The lady moved into Independent Living on purpose as it has written on their contract (lease) that there will be no life saving practices by their staff. The staff is only suppose to call 911. The people who live there know that. It's in their paperwork when they move in.
Debate all you want to, this was the woman's choice and her family knows that.
I have a DNR and there had better not be someone bringing me back to live on tubes and respirators. :furious:

 

[jjenny]

Yes, this facility has 3 sections: Independent Living which is an apartment, Assisted Living which is with care givers if needed and wanted and a nursing home with total care. The lady moved into Independent Living on purpose as it has written on their contract (lease) that there will be no life saving practices by their staff. The staff is only suppose to call 911. The people who live there know that. It's in their paperwork when they move in.
Debate all you want to, this was the woman's choice and her family knows that.
I have a DNR and there had better not be someone bringing me back to live on tubes and respirators. :furious:

And she died from a massive stroke, which means, that if they actually managed to not let her die with CPR, she would most likely be in a bad shape.
Thankfully she went naturally, which her family says was her wish all along. And I have no reason to not believe what her family says.

 

[Cherry]

She had a dnr, she did the right and just thing, for this patient.

 

[ohiogirl]

I don't fault the 911 dispatcher, she was doing her job. If this woman truly had a DNR, why was 911 called to begin with? It was useless and stressful for the dispatcher. What was the point???

In an article linked above, it wasn't the facility that called 911, it was another resident and the employee got on the phone. fyi:seeya:

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Family: Woman denied CPR wanted no intervention

TRACIE CONE, AP
51 minutes ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Relatives of an 87-year-old woman who died after a nurse at her retirement home refused a 911 dispatcher's pleas to perform CPR expressed satisfaction with the care she received, saying her wishes were to die naturally. Meanwhile, the company that owns the facility now says its worker failed to follow proper procedures.

Lorraine Bayless' death last week at Glendale Gardens, a Bakersfield independent living facility, prompted outrage after a 7-minute recording of the 911 call was released. Brookdale Senior Living, which owns the facility, initially said its employee acted correctly by waiting until emergency personnel arrived. But late Tuesday, it issued a new statement saying the employee had misinterpreted the company's guidelines and was on voluntary leave while the case is investigated.

"This incident resulted from a complete misunderstanding of our practice with regards to emergency medical care for our residents," the Tennessee-based company said.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130306/US--No.CPR-Woman.Dies/

 

[Trident]

CYA time?

 

[sleuthin4fun]

I worked for 13 years in Skilled Nursing Facilities and I have never heard of a NO CPR as a facility policy unless the patient had a No Code on file. I've never even heard of it as a policy for Assisted/Independent Living either. Something is very fishy with this facility, and I hope the family gets down to the bottom of it.

My guess is that if this was an "independant living facillity", that is was exactly that, a basic place where an elderly person could live "independantly" with minimal to no asssistance other than help with meals and activities. More likely than not that was the case. It would be no different than having a "companion" in your home who was not medically trained in anyway. They would call 911 and provide comfort measures, that is all.

 

[mysteriew]

Better than what? CPR only works in a small percentage of people. And this was an 87 year old woman.

It is generally considered better than dying.

 

[mysteriew]

I don't find it incredulous at all. Many elderly want do die without some medical procedures performed on them until the bitter end. As long as residents know the policy, I don't have a problem with it whatsoever.

But if that is the case, why call 911? 911 is to ask for help for emergencies. Why not just call the doctor, family and mortuary? Why tie up emergency resources that may be needed elsewhere?

 

[Herding Cats]

It is generally considered better than dying.

Respectfully, that's your choice. For some folks, a natural death is better than living with some of the sequelae of CPR and resusitation. It's a personal decision, and it really needs to stay that way - whether to get heroic measures or to let someone die is a very personal decisions, and need to be respected as such (as hard as it is...).

Best-
Herding Cats