Many residents tend to change their mind often after being admitted to a nursing home when it comes to being revived via cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A research published recently showed that minimum CPR data set changes puts the residents care in a great threat.

How the research was undertaken

The research was carried out by a team of researchers sourced from University of Rochester School of Dentistry and Medicine in New York and University of California Irvine. The researchers analyzed a number of residents in nursing homes for a period of 5 years after they were admitted. Of the residents who entered the nursing home at admission with CPR full code orders, 40 percent of them turned to the do not resuscitate state within 5 years, as per the research findings.

Residents who were either transferred to other nursing homes or were hospitalized had a high probability of changing their status. Out of this category, white residents were less likely than black residents to easily change to DNR, said the researchers.

This kind of change where residents switched from wanting the CPR to actually ordering the DNR clearly shows that it is of paramount importance that care providers discuss with the residents continuously on what they want. The recent changes on MDS exclude such kind of info from regular assessment of the patients as authorized by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pointed out the researchers.

In their conclusion, the researchers recommended that CMS should reinstate the advance directive info in MDS.

Readers’ feedback on the research findings

When giving their feedback on this research, some people seemed to disagree with the research findings on this issue it. According to them, there was need to remove it from MDS because as the article says, people often change their mind. It is common for people to keep changing their mind now and then regarding this subject depending on changes in science, co- morbidities, prognosis, etc. At the speed in which the MDS’ get completed in provision of long term care for the residents, having this item added back to MDS seems to be quite impractical. It could end up being out dated considering that the info is needed on a daily basis.

Most of the feedback given seemed to point out that while MDS is only a minimum set of data, care facilities should take charge of services and care offered beyond the initial assessment/ screening. MDS has so many other areas which can trigger provision of the right care planning program for persons with specific wishes and desires, at a time when they can’t speak for themselves. As such, it is not a must that MDS states that a resident home can assess and determine how to offer the necessary care services that conform to the wishes of the residents about advance directives.