Table 1 Patient responses to a series of general statements
Agree | Neither agree or disagree | Disagree | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strongly | Some-what | Some-what | Strongly | ||
Preoperative DNR requests should be suspended for surgical procedures | 131 (32%) | 104 (25%) | 62 (15%) | 40 (10%) | 58 (14%) |
Requests not to be resuscitated should always be discussed between patient and surgeon or anesthesiologist | 309 (74%) | 74 (18%) | 17 (4%) | 5 (1%) | 4 (<1%) |
Decisions about intraoperative resuscitation should be left up to surgeons and anesthesiologists alone because patients cannot fully understand the complexities involved with a surgical process | 87 (21%) | 94 (23%) | 28 (7%) | 54 (13%) | 137 (33%) |
The type of surgical procedure should influence whether a patient’s request not to be resuscitated is followed | 113 (28%) | 115 (28%) | 61 (15%) | 32 (8%) | 75 (18%) |
If a patient’s request to forgo resuscitation is suspended for a surgical procedure, it should be reinstated at a predetermined point following anesthesia recovery. | 206 (50%) | 120 (29%) | 50 (12%) | 10 (2%) | 8 (2%) |