Use of resuscitation plans at a tertiary Australian hospital: room for improvement

Objectives To evaluate the introduction of a document for recording the resuscitation plans of patients at a tertiary hospital. The ‘Acute Resuscitation Plan’ (ARP) was introduced in September 2014, superseding the ‘Not for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)’ form. Unlike the Not for CPR form, the ARP was relevant to patients with and without resuscitation limits. Design Retrospective audit of the records of all admissions to the hospital from January-June 2014 (Not for CPR period) and January-June 2015 (ARP period). Main outcomes Incidence of resuscitation plans; proportion of ARPs specifying consultation with the patient (or representative) and with senior medical staff and; proportion of ARPs among older patients and those with significant comorbidity. Results Resuscitation plans were present for 453/23,325 (1.9%) admissions in the Not for CPR period vs. 1,801/24,037 (7.5%) in the ARP period (OR 4.1, 95%CI 3.7-4.5, P