Journal of advanced nursing
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This paper reports the involvement of nurses in 'do not resuscitate' decision-making on acute elder care wards and their adherence to such decisions in the case of an actual cardiopulmonary arrest. ⋯ To make appropriate 'do not resuscitate' decisions and to avoid rash decision-making in cases of actual cardiopulmonary arrest, nurses should be involved early in 'do not resuscitate' decision-making. If institutional 'do not resuscitate' guidelines were to stress more clearly the important role of nurses in all kinds of end-of-life decisions, this might improve the 'do not resuscitate' decision-making process.