"Allow natural death" versus "do not resuscitate": three words that can change a life.
Physician-written "do not resuscitate" DNR orders elicit negative reactions from stakeholders that may decrease appropriate end-of-life care. The semantic significance of the phrase has led to a proposed replacement of DNR with "allow natural death" (AND). Prior to this investigation, no scientific papers address the impact of such a change. Our results support this proposition due to increased likelihood of endorsement with the term AND.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000941:ethics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D016414:Resuscitation Orders / Q000941:ethics* / Q000523:psychology; D012297:Right to Die; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000523:psychology; D009626:Terminology as Topic