Counseling the Heart to Address Non-DNR Status Amongst Hospice Patient

While having a DNR is not a requirement to access hospice care, experts agree that resuscitating terminally ill patients has little to no positive outcomes. We often ask about DNR status as a check off during the admission process and then follow up with education and support. For some patients and famlies, however, these approaches fall short. This session provides a framework to counsel the emotional heart space to allow the education to seep in, helping them move through anticipatory grief and make a decision regarding signing the DNR. Because verbal processing can fall short alone, we will explore how to use creative approaches to reach the heart and open opportunities for counseling. Balancing the ethics of autonomy with beneficence will be explored as we discuss DNR status for hospice patients.