What Is The Difference Between DNR and Living Will?
A DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order is a medical directive that instructs healthcare providers not to perform CPR or other life-saving measures if a person’s heart stops or they stop breathing.
A living will, on the other hand, is a legal document that outlines a person’s wishes for medical treatment if they become unable to make decisions for themselves. It can include instructions for end-of-life care, but it is not the same as a DNR order.
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What is a Living Will?
A Living Will is the first part of the current Connecticut Advance Healthcare Directive form. People who have not updated their estate planning documents in 15-20 years may only have a document that is titled “Living Will”.
The Living Will is your directive that if a physician or an APRN determines that you are in a coma or persistive vegetative state from which the physician or APRN determines you will not awaken, then you do not want to be kept alive on life support machines, including a ventilator.
This does not mean that you will not be intubated and put on a ventilator if the medical professionals believe doing so will save your life.
Yesterday was the 12th annual National Healthcare Decisions Day. I was scheduled to speak on a panel hosted by VNA Community Healthcare & Hospice with other professionals to discuss the importance of Advance Healthcare Directives.
That event was obviously canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but given this current healthcare crisis, people are realizing that medical directives are more important than ever.
I have heard some concerns from people who thought that having an Advance Healthcare Directive, means they do not want to be put on a ventilator and therefore, they would not receive treatment for COVID-19.
THIS IS FALSE!
A Living Will is NOT a Do Not Resuscitate Order!
What is DNR?
A DNR states that you do not want to be resuscitated (DNR = Do No Resuscitate) with CPR or intubated and put on a ventilator, no matter whether doing so could save your life or not. Generally, otherwise healthy people do not execute DNR’s.
They are used for people whose quality of life is such that they would not want to be revived if something led their heart to stop beating or caused them to stop breathing. A DNR is something that you execute with your PHYSICIAN, not your lawyer.
Related Post: Do You Sign A DNR With Your Lawyer?
Who Executes a DNR?
A DNR can be executed by your Healthcare Representative. Naming your Healthcare Representative is another important part of the Advance Healthcare Directive.
Your Representative is the person who has the legal authority to make decisions for your medical needs when you cannot make those decisions for yourself either because you are unconscious or incapacitated.
Naming someone who you trust to make health decisions for you when you cannot is critical.
Without it, if you become unable to make your own decisions, your loved ones would have to obtain a court order through the Probate Court, which can be time-consuming, costly, and these days with court closures, social distancing orders, and overworked medical professionals, sometimes impossible.
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Important – Talk To Your Healthcare Representative.
Finally, having conversations with your Representative is equally critical because it is important for that person to know when and if you would want a DNR executed and what your health and medical wishes would be in certain circumstances.
it is very important to tell your named Representative that you named him or her and where you keep a copy of your document.
Recently, our office received a call from a woman in Arizona whose brother was in the hospital here in Connecticut and unable to make decisions for himself. He never told her if he executed any estate planning documents.
Attorney Kristen Prout was able to obtain an emergency conservatorship and a decree from the Court to authorize someone to check his safe deposit box for these important documents. Had he shared them with his sister, they may have saved a lot of time and stress.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice and is for general informational purposes only.
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Joan Reed Wilson Esq. – Managing Partner
Practices in the areas of estate planning, elder law, Medicaid planning, conservatorships, probate and trust administration, and real estate. Admitted to practice in the States of Connecticut and California, she is the President of the CT Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), an active member of the Elder Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, accredited with the PLAN of CT for Pooled Trusts, with the Veteran’s Administration to assist clients with obtaining Aid & Attendance benefits for long-term care needs and with the Agency on Aging’s CareLink Network.
