What frustrates me the most about this job is to know that anyone who checks into the hospital without an advance directive. Well, correction, an appropriate advance directive.

The importance of an advance directive is that it tells the whole medical team what to do in an emergency situation. It includes full resusitation, chemical DNR, or full DNR. Full code means we will do CPR, intubation and ventilation and all that in a cardiac or pulmonary arrest. Chemical is only certain medications, which are chemicals, will be applied in the situation. A full DNR simply means "do no resusitate" by all means.

A lot of diseases proceed in its natural courses. When i said an "appropriate advance directive" should be introduced, it literally means no matter if you believe in god or lets simply put...if you are god, when the prognosis is nil, the code status should be changed accordingly.

Whats the point of saving a 80-some-year-old...or anyone from a stroke or...anything,  so that he/ she could still breathe but on a ventilator, needs total care on the bed, being inserted all kinds of tubes all over the body...the rest of their life?? Are we talking about another year? 2? 5? or 10? Or if you are as rich as the ex-superman, who was able to live with the expensive care he could afford for another 15?

It is not like we need to give up life when its dire. But is it necessary to fight against the nature when the resources can be put away for a better use?

I guess we all tend to think we can be immortal ...one way or the other.