Influence of guidelines on CPR decisions: an audit of clerking proforma.

We audited documentation rates and implementation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decisions for patients admitted under the Department of Elderly Care Medicine, Mayday University Hospital, Croydon, as new guidelines and a proforma were introduced. For the first audit, data were collected from 75 departmental discharges. Following introduction of a proforma, six point prevalence audits were performed of all elderly care inpatients.

Implementation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines in elderly care departments across: a survey of 13 hospitals shows wide variability in practice.

Objective: The United Kingdom Department of Health advises hospitals that they should implement a policy relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that takes account of published guidelines relating to decision making for resuscitation. We wished to see if these guidelines were leading to implementation of a similar policy in different Elderly Care (EC) departments.

Setting: The acute and rehabilitation wards in 13 hospitals from the South Thames West region.

The influence of new guidelines on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decisions. Five cycles of audit of a clerk proforma which included a resuscitation decision.

Current guidelines advise discussion with patients before issuing a 'do not attempt resuscitation' (DNAR) order. We report five audit cycles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) documentation after introducing a proforma, the last cycle following the latest guidelines. In first audit data were collected from 75 patient discharges.