Developing a Policy for Do Not Resuscitate Orders Within a Framework of Goals of Care

The DNR order policy represents an effort to translate conceptual analysis, empirical research, and clinical experience into hospital policy so that clinicians are encouraged to place code-status discussions within a larger, goal-oriented context. Using goals of care to guide decision making about DNR orders and other treatments should enhance the quality of patient care by improving the fit between the biomedical information we provide patients and the values our patients rely on to make their medical decisions.