Nurses’ Attitude toward DNR Order: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

The process of decision-making on DNR order is unique and complicated, since it is the only medical decision to be made prior to treatment with consultation and cooperation. Nurses are critical staff of medical team, who have a major role in the patients’ health and whose attitude toward DNR order is of great importance. Therefore, we would try to study their attitude through this study. In 2017, a descriptive cross-sectional study is conducted with 144 nurses working for hospitals related to Jahrom University of Medical Sciences by using random sampling. Our data-gathering tool has been demographic questionnaire and Dun standard survey. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21.00, using descriptive statistics (percent, mean and standard deviation) as well as inferential tests (T-test, chi-squared test, and Man-Whitney). Man-Whitney indicated that participants had a positive attitude to DNR order ( ), i.e. there was a meaningful relationship between DNR order and the nurses’ gender and clinical experience‑ women had a more positive impression than men towards DNR order ( ). Also, the longer their clinical experience was, the more positive their attitude toward DNR order became ( ). This study proved that most nurses had a positive attitude toward DNR order, so considering that nurses are a significant part of the medical staff, we suggest law bestowing them more authority in this regard are legislated by the Ministry of Health