Medical students’ experiences of resuscitation and discussions surrounding resuscitation status

Abstract

Objectives

In the UK, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be undertaken in the event of cardiac arrest unless a patient has a “Do Not Attempt CPR” document. Doctors have a legal duty to discuss CPR with patients or inform them that CPR would be futile. In this study, final-year medical students were interviewed about their experiences of resuscitation on the wards and of observing conversations about resuscitation status to explore whether they would be equipped to have an informed discussion about resuscitation in the future.

Methods

Twenty final-year medical students from two medical schools were interviewed about their experiences on the wards. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was undertaken.

Results

Students who had witnessed CPR on the wards found that aspects of it were distressing. A significant minority had never seen resuscitation status being discussed with a patient. No students reported seeing a difficult conversation. Half of the students interviewed reported being turned away from difficult conversations by clinicians. Only two of the twenty students would feel comfortable raising the issue of resuscitation with a patient.

Conclusion

It is vital that doctors are comfortable talking to patients about resuscitation. Given the increasing importance of this aspect of communication, it should be considered for inclusion in the formal communication skills teaching during medical school.

Keywords:

• undergraduate
• communication
• DNACPR
• palliative care
• end of life care

This article is referred to by:

Medical students’ experiences of resuscitation: a medical student’s perspective

Widening medical students’ exposure and confidence toward resuscitation management and discussions

From confident medical students to confident doctors through exposure to simulated and clinical resuscitation

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.