The Decision not to Resuscitate Order for Children and Related Ethical Issues from Students’ Perspective

Abstract Background : Nurses and PharmD have communicated the for elaborate and properly documented DNR orders for terminally ill children and informed child with terminally ill diseases and relatives to offer excellent care attention, such as more family support, assisting the child with terminally ill disease in passing on peacefully, and preventing unnecessary CPR This research aimed to survey attitudes of nursing and PharmD (PharmD) undergraduate students about the “do not resuscitate” order for children with terminally ill diseases.Method: Across-sectional correlational design was used. More than 400 nursing and PharmD students were recruited in this study. All nursing and doctors of pharmacy undergraduate students were E-mailed information regarding the study, including the web survey link.Results: Approximately 60% of the nursing and PharmD students would disclose the need for the do not resuscitate order for children with terminally ill diseases. The results showed that there was a significant difference in perception toward DNR order between nursing and PharmD. PharmD students had more positive attitude toward DNR than nursing students. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that all demographic variables not associated with the perception toward DNR orders (p value > 0.05). This study shows that Jordanian nursing and PharmD students are willing to learn more about different aspects of DNR orders for terminally ill children and analyzing their responses to many items showed their misconception about DNR orders for terminally ill children.