viviene8swansea

TV medical dramas often give a rosy view of resuscitation

Until now only consultants and GPs were allowed to decide on resuscitation.

The guidelines were issued by the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Nursing and the Resuscitation Council.

The Patients Association welcomed the move, saying nurses were better placed than doctors to know patients' wishes.

Death with dignity

The Resuscitation Council said resuscitation may only work in 5% of cases, and that the guidelines aim to avoid "undignified and unnecessary" resuscitation of patients who would not benefit from it.

The guidelines recommend that only "suitably experienced" nurses should be able to make the judgement.

The Resuscitation Council said that through television dramas people had been led to believe the resuscitation procedure is both more effective and more pleasant than it is in reality.

Sometimes it is a prolonged and traumatic procedure and is not always successful Dr David Pitcher

"The survival rate may be as low as 5% in certain individuals. The outcomes are extremely variable but they are nothing like what we see on TV.

A Patients Association spokesman said: "Nurses have always been closer to patients who are severely ill than doctors.

"They will know more about the personality of the patient and their attitude towards death during a severe illness."

Nick Moore, of Dignity in Dying, which campaigns for greater patient choice at the end of life, called the changes "common sense".

"Unnecessarily resuscitating a patient in the last weeks of their life can often prolong suffering," he said in a statement.

Inevitable

However, in the case of someone being brought to hospital from the street, a clinical judgment would still have to be made without that information.

The Patients Association spokesman said: "End of life is inevitable for all of us. We need to be reassured that we can reach it and die with dignity in as much comfort as possible with the respectful care of qualified health professionals."