We describe the case of an eighty‐four‐year‐old man with disseminated lung cancer who had been receiving palliative care in the hospital and was found by nursing staff unresponsive, with clinically obvious signs of death, including rigor mortis. Because there was no documentation to the contrary, the nurses commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called a code blue, resulting in resuscitative efforts that continued for around twenty minutes. In discussion with the hospital ethicist, senior nurses justified these actions, mainly citing disciplinary and medicolegal (...) concerns. We argue that moral harms arise from CPR performed on a corpse and that legal concerns about failing to perform it are unfounded. We contend that such efforts are an unintended consequence of managerialist policies mandating do‐not‐resuscitate orders and advance care plans and of defensive practices that can value the interests of institutions and practitioners over those of patients. Health management teaching should include managerialism and its pitfalls, while clinician training should prioritize ethical reasoning and legal knowledge over defensive practice. (shrink)

This study explored paediatric nurses’ decision-making regarding resuscitation in patients with unequivocal signs of death and no Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2023 and April 2024 across the paediatric wards of four Australian hospitals. Participants were asked to respond to two hypothetical clinical scenarios involving a three-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl, both clearly deceased—neither of whom had documented DNR orders. Participants indicated their intended resuscitation plan and reasoning for each scenario. Data were (...) analysed descriptively. All respondents (n = 26) (100 per cent) indicated that they would initiate resuscitation for the younger child, while 84.6 per cent (n = 22) would do so for the twelve-year-old. The absence of a DNR order and perceived duty of care were key reasons for their decisions. Findings reveal ethical, legal, and clinical challenges inherent to paediatric resuscitation decisions. This highlights the need for clearer policies, education, and support to guide determination of when resuscitation is appropriate. (shrink)