OMNI homes attend meeting to learn about importance of DNR forms
Do Not Resuscitate forms vital to ensuring residents’ wishes are respected, say expert
Wednesday May 14, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Representatives from six OMNI homes recently attended a Four Counties Long-Term Care Palliative Network workshop to learn about the importance of the province’s new Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) confirmation forms.

The DNR is a release issued by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Office of the Fire Marshal ordering paramedics and firefighters to not resuscitate an individual being transported to hospital if they do not wish to be revived.

Staff members and management from Frost Manor, Springdale Country Manor, Streamway Villa, Burnbrae Gardens, Riverview Manor and Pleasant Meadow Manor gathered at the Rock Haven Motor Hotel in Peterborough on May 8 to listen to a presentation about the forms from Patti Stanton, a palliative care and symptom management consultant with Hospice Peterborough.

Stanton’s message to the network was clear: it’s important to educate residents and families about DNR forms and get them signed to respect the individual wishes of residents.

“I hope that (workshop attendees) learned that they can go back and they can educate their other colleagues (and) they can change their policies if they need to and they can use this as an education tool with the families on admission,” says Stanton.

Should a resident in a long-term care home go into cardiac arrest during transportation to hospital, the paramedics or firefighters would be obliged to provide comfort measures, but prohibited from resuscitation.

The DNR, which was put into practice Feb. 1, replaces the former DNR validity form, which became outdated, had an expiry date and caused a great deal of confusion for caregivers, says Stanton.

The new DNR has no expiry date.

Maureen Imamovic, administrator at Springdale Country Manor, says DNR forms have been utilized at the Peterborough long-term care home since coming into effect. She says they have been an “excellent” asset in terms of ensuring that the wishes of residents at the end-of-life stage are respected.

The new DNR form, she says, is more viable than the previous form because it wasn’t recognized by paramedics and fire crews. The DNR validity form was only utilized by staff members at long-term care homes.

“You were getting into turf wars (because) paramedics were professionally obligated to start CPR,” she says. “What this form allows us to do is to have the resident’s wishes respected throughout the whole system. It goes along with seamless care.”

For more information on DNR forms, click here.

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