But there will also be situations where clinicians are asked to discuss with a patient whether they want to or should have resuscitation if they have had a cardiac arrest or life-threatening arrhythmia. The potential likelihood for clinical benefit in accordance with the patient's preferences for intervention and its likely outcome, involves careful consideration, as with many other medical decisions, in deciding whether or not to resuscitate a patient who suffers a cardiopulmonary arrest. Therefore, decisions to forego cardiac resuscitation are often difficult.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a set of specific medical procedures designed to establish circulation and breathing in a patient who's suffered an arrest of both. CPR is a supportive therapy, designed to maintain perfusion to vital organs while attempts are made to restore spontaneous breathing and cardiac rhythm (Braddock 2).

The standard of care is to perform CPR in the absence of a valid physician's order to...
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