An exploratory study of how knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals affect the implementation of do-not-resuscitate orders

The purpose of this study was to explore how knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals affect the implementation of do-not-resuscitate orders.; One hundred and twenty-five health care professionals participated in the study. Participants were given a self-administered questionnaire that explored their knowledge and attitudes about do-not-resuscitate orders.; Data was collected from two hospitals, three skilled nursing facilities, two city fire stations, and one medical transportation company located in Orange County, California. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of health care professionals implement do-not-resuscitate orders when the documents are completed in proper form and communicated to the professional at the scene of the life-threatening emergency. The ineffectiveness of these orders is primarily due to the fact that the documents are not readily accessible or completely understood due to misunderstandings of the patient's general, instead of specific, request to accept or forego certain medical treatments.