Perioperative Code Status Discussions: How Are We Doing?

Approximately 15% of patients with a code status of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) or do-not-intubate (DNI) present for surgery. Despite professional guidelines requiring discussions with patients regarding perioperative resuscitation, it is unclear whether these recommendations are consistently followed. Our review of 158 patient encounters with established DNR/DNI code status found that code status discussions (CSDs) were documented only 70% of the time, and code status orders were inconsistently entered to reflect those discussions.

History of anaesthesia: Nurse anaesthesia practice in the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America).

: Many factors determine whether nurses, physicians or both administer anaesthesia in any country. We examined the status of nurse-administered anaesthesia in the Group of Seven (G7) countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) and explored how historical factors, mixing global and local contexts (such as professional relations, medical and nursing education, social status of nurses, demographics and World Wars in the 20th century), help explain observed differences. Nearly equal numbers of physicians and nurses are currently engaged in the delivery of anaesthesia care in the United States but, remarkably, although the introduction or re-introduction of nurse anaesthesia in the 20th century was attempted in all the other G7 countries (except Japan), it has been successful only in France because of the cooperation with the United States during World War II.