Introduction:Do not resuscitate (DNR) is a medical procedure for patients who are suffering from critical, untreatable, and irreversible disease where the patient's life is predicted to end. DNR is considered a sensitive decision for patients and their relatives, as well as physicians.Aim:This study is aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of medical students and interns toward the DNR order and the factors affecting their attitude at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) in Jeddah.Methods:Nonintervention cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 medical students (preclinical and clinical years) and interns who were given an online questionnaire between May and June in 2016 at KAUH in 18 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Results:Our study indicates that most of the participants (73.2%) were familiar with DNR order; however, more than half of them (58.3%) did not take any lecture or session on DNR. Large proportion of medical students had the opinion that attending a lecture or session on DNR would help them discuss it more skillfully with the patients and their relatives. More than half of the participants (55%) believed that there is a Fatwa that regulates DNR on the Islamic level.Conclusion:Participants, who were interns, were more familiar with the term DNR, whereas the 2nd-year medical students were less familiar with DNR. Considering the variation in the knowledge of participants about DNR, we conclude that additional lectures and sessions about DNR should be added to the medical school curriculum to make the students more confident and able in handling the DNR discussions.
Aim: Do not resuscitate (DNR) is an order in medical practice for the patients who are suffering from a grave medical condition, and their life is in danger to end. DNR decision-making varies from one hospital to another. This study is aimed to assess the knowledge of the patients' relatives about DNR concept and their opinion about the DNR decision-making. Materials and Methods: This was a nonintervention cross-sectional study conducted, during 2016, among 420 patients' relatives in the Emergency Department at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital in KSA. Data were collected by interviewing the participants. Data were further analyzed using SPSS software. The Chi-square test was used to determine the associations. Results: Variation in responses related to the DNR concept was observed. Around 44% of participants thought that DNR involved maximum intervention in the hospital, including intensive care. Further, the majority (55.2%) of the participants were assured about the quality of the services the patient would receive. Furthermore, 51% of the participants believed that ultimately, it should always be the doctor who decides on a DNR decision. Meanwhile, 36.4% of the relatives opined that the family members should be involved in the discussion regarding the DNR order. Conclusion: We observed a gap in the understanding of the concept and decision-making of DNR-order among the participants. Health-care providers should provide a greater explanation about DNR orders to the families of the patients to avoid any misunderstandings, and also support them psychologically to avoid any stress they might encounter in such situations.
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