Dawn Fairlie, PhD, Assistant Professor of Nursing at the College of Staten Island (CSI), was featured in the story, “Words and experience matter to surrogates making end-of-life decisions.” According to the article, Dr. Fairlie “investigated the relationship between end-of-life terminologies and decisional conflict — defined as a state of uncertainty about what actions should be taken when they involve risk, loss, regret, or a challenge to our values — in surrogate decision makers. She simulated a situation in which people were asked to decide whether to provide or withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation as end-of-life care for a loved one. Divided into two randomized groups, study participants received a survey packet that varied only in the phrases ‘Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)’ and ‘Allow Natural Death (AND).’ While the results revealed no difference in decisional conflict (perhaps because the situation was simulated rather than real), Dr. Fairlie did find that AND respondents perceived their decision as good and were eight times more likely to sign the document than DNR participants.”
Read the full feature on EurekAlert! The Global Source for Science News.
