Guiding Decisions About End-of-Life Care, 2009 - College of Nurses ...

Practice Guideline7that he or she does not want the client toreceive the treatment;■the attending physician has informed theclient that the treatment will be of no benefitand is not part of the plan of treatment thatthe client has agreed to. In this situation,the nurse is not expected to performlife-sustaining treatment (for example,resuscitation), even if the client or substitutedecision-maker requests it; or■the client exhibits obvious signs of death, suchas the absence of vital signs plus rigor mortisand tissue decay;e) documenting in a written plan of treatmentall information that is relevant to theimplementation of the client’s wishes fortreatment at end of life;f) following the client’s wish for no resuscitationeven in the absence of a physician’s writtendo-not-resuscitate (DNR) order;g) engaging in the following when a client’s death isexpected or unexpected:■identifying whom to notify when the clientdies;■identifying the most appropriate category ofhealth care provider to notify the family;■identifying the client’s and family’s culturaland religious beliefs and values about death,and management of the body after death;24■identifying whether the family wants to seethe body after death; and■documenting according to policies andprocedures;h) possessing the knowledge, skill and judgment todetermine that death has occurred;i) deciding, if necessary, the category of health careprovider that will pronounce the death;j) recognizing that all nurses have the authority topronounce death when clients are expected todie and their plan of treatment does not includeresuscitation. While RNs and RPNs do not havethe authority to certify death in any situation,Nurse Practitioners do have the authority tocertify an expected death, except in specificcircumstances;25 andk) advocating for the creation or modification ofpractice-setting policies and procedures on theimplementation of clients’ treatment and end-oflifecare wishes that are consistent with Collegedocuments.24 For more information, refer to the College’s Culturally Sensitive Care practice document at www.cno.org/publications.25 For more information about Nurse Practitioners and medical certificates of death, refer to the Nurse Practitioners practice resourcesweb page at www.cno.org/np_pr.College of Nurses of Ontario Practice Guideline: Guiding Decisions About End-of-Life Care, 2009