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Today's article is about, “Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Can My
Aunt Sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) for My Dad in ICU with a Stroke?”
You may also watch the video here on our website https://intensivecarehotline.com/ventilation/quick-tip-for-families-in-intensive-care-can-my-aunt-sign-a-dnr-do-not-resuscitate-for-my-dad-in-icu-with-a-stroke/ or you can continue reading the article below.
Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Can My Aunt Sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) for My Dad in ICU with a Stroke?
If you want to know if you should sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) when you have your loved one, critically ill in intensive care, stay tuned. I’ve got news for you.
My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I have another quick tip for families in intensive care.
Today, I have an email from Miriam who says, “Hi Patrik, my father had an unexpected stroke, and the ambulance brought his heart rate back and then at the hospital, he had the
pulse. My dad’s sister signed DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) and nobody else wanted to or was even asked. His sister shouldn’t have had even been offered the option to sign that DNR paper or was legally able to when he has two willing and able children. What is the law behind this?”
Well, Miriam, I’m very sorry to hear about your dad’s situation that he had a stroke and that he’s now in intensive care on a ventilator with a breathing tube.
Now, here’s the situation. Unless your dad has clearly stated that he would like a DNR in a situation like that or unless there is an advanced care plan where he states prior to this situation that he would like a DNR if he ever ends up in ICU on a ventilator, maybe even specified if he had a stroke, then a DNR would be relevant, I believe.
If none of this has been documented and your dad never mentioned anything about
wanting a DNR, then nobody should be signing a DNR.
Now, unless your father’s sister is the undisputed next of kin or power of attorney, she would have a legal right to sign a DNR if she would have discussed it with your father.
Now, it sounds to me like your aunt or your father’s sister is not the
legal guardian or power of attorney. Therefore, she should not be allowed to sign the DNR. So, I do believe that the hospital has potentially tricked her and potentially tricked you. No one can force anyone to sign a DNR. I would also think that you as the child of your father, you would know if your aunt was the power of attorney or the legal guardian for your father. It sounds to me like there’s nothing.
But what do hospitals do? Well, many hospitals want patients out as quickly as possible. That means they often use tactics and strategies that are potentially illegal, that are not aligned with their own hospital policies but are aligned with their goals.
What are their goals? Their goals are to empty the ICU bed as quickly as possible. An ICU bed is the most sought-after bed
in the hospital. So therefore, they have a strong interest to empty their ICU beds as quickly as possible. One way to empty a bed in ICU as quickly as possible is by letting someone die and that means if your dad’s sister signs to DNR, and they then almost slowly but surely remove treatment. That is my experience when someone is getting a DNR in ICU.
I have worked in critical care nursing for 25
years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com where I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care all over the world. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com or you can verify it at our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we have done some client interviews, and they would all verify that we’ve saved their loved ones’ lives.
So, coming back to our email from Miriam. So, that’s if your dad’s sister thinks that it’s “not in your dad’s
best interest” to live, then she might want to sign a DNR but I don’t believe that she’s legally allowed to, but the hospital will hospitals will often use any means nowadays to empty ICU beds whether that’s by pushing people out to LTAC (Long Term Acute Care), I know that you’re in the U.S., or by letting them pass away.
So, I’m glad you’ve spotted the issue here and because you’ve spotted the issue, you still have time to turn this around.
Now, my advice is to the hospital administration and show them proof that you are next of kin, and you are the power of attorney or legal guardian, and that you are potentially closer to your dad than your aunt. I don’t know, of course. Maybe there is a reason why your aunt is in a position to sign the DNR papers. But if that’s not the case, then you should be asking the hospital for their policies around who can sign a DNR and, and I can assure
you it’s usually only the next of kin or legal guardian.
The other thing that you could do, you could consult a family lawyer in a situation like that. You could consult a family lawyer to help you with his situation, who should be the power of attorney and who can sign a DNR. I argue that you can revoke the DNR being the daughter of your dad. I argue you can reverse that, but you got to take
action, and you also have to take responsibility.
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Thank you so much for watching.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.
Take care for now.
