Qualitative health research
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Current medical emphasis on autonomy requires that patients be primary in authorizing do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, countermanding provision of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on terminally ill patients. The assumptions that patients make regarding CPR and DNR orders will influence their choices about them. ⋯ However, a minority drew on dominant construals of DNR orders and CPR to locate themselves outside the category of suitable candidates for DNR orders, thus justifying a preference for CPR--even though some had current DNR orders. Doctors' and patients' assessments of eligibility for DNR orders might not coincide, and when patient autonomy is presumed by patients to be determinant, discrepancies between patient expectations and instituted medical practice are inevitable.