Biomaterial Database

Witnessed resuscitation: beneficial or detrimental? 2008

Angela B Terzi, and Dimitra Aggelidou

Intensive Care Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital of Athens, Greece. terzi_angie@yahoo.com

This article explores the existing literature and discusses the benefits and disadvantages of witnessed resuscitation for health professionals, relatives, and patients themselves. Keywords "witnessed resuscitation," "patient perspective," "health professionals," and "resuscitation room" were entered into MEDLINE, Medscape, and Science Direct databases. The issue of witnessed resuscitation, along with the benefits and disadvantages of its implementation, is discussed widely with increasing controversy among health professionals. Many authors accept the existence of benefits of witnessed resuscitation, but they each have reservations on certain aspects of the practice. Although witnessed resuscitation has demonstrable benefits, the dearth of research literature on the subject makes it difficult to come to a concrete conclusion about its value in practice. More studies are needed focusing on the impact of witnessed resuscitation on staff, family members, and patients. Larger sample sizes are needed in future studies, and studies are needed in which geographical, cultural, religious, and sociological factors are taken into consideration.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011368	Professional-Family Relations	The interactions between the professional person and the family.	Professional Family Relationship,Family Relationship, Professional,Family Relationships, Professional,Professional Family Relations,Professional Family Relationships,Professional-Family Relation,Relation, Professional-Family,Relations, Professional-Family,Relationship, Professional Family,Relationships, Professional Family
D012151	Resuscitation	The restoration to life or consciousness of one apparently dead. (Dorland, 27th ed)	Resuscitations
D005190	Family	A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.	Family Life Cycles,Family Members,Family Life Cycle,Family Research,Filiation,Kinship Networks,Relatives,Families,Family Member,Kinship Network,Life Cycle, Family,Life Cycles, Family,Network, Kinship,Networks, Kinship,Research, Family
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001291	Attitude of Health Personnel	Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.	Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes
D001293	Attitude to Death	Conceptual response of the person to the various aspects of death, which are based on individual psychosocial and cultural experience.	Attitudes to Death,Death, Attitude to,Death, Attitudes to
D001601	Bereavement	Refers to the whole process of grieving and mourning and is associated with a deep sense of loss and sadness.	Bereavements
D014789	Visitors to Patients	Patients' guests and rules for visiting.	Patients' Visitors,Patient Visitors,Patient's Visitors,Patients Visitors,Patients' Visitor,Visitor, Patients',Visitors to Patient,Visitors, Patients'
D028701	Patient Rights	Fundamental claims of patients, as expressed in statutes, declarations, or generally accepted moral principles. (Bioethics Thesaurus) The term is used for discussions of patient rights as a group of many rights, as in a hospital's posting of a list of patient rights.	Right to Treatment,Patient's Rights,Patients' Rights,Patient Right,Patient's Right,Patients Rights,Patients' Right,Right to Treatments,Right, Patient,Right, Patient's,Right, Patients',Rights, Patient,Rights, Patient's,Rights, Patients',Treatment, Right to,Treatments, Right to
D034462	Dissent and Disputes	Differences of opinion or disagreements that may arise, for example, between health professionals and patients or their families, or against a political regime.	Dispute,Dissent And Dispute,Disputes,Dissent,Political Dissent,Professional-Family Disagreement,Professional-Patient Disagreement,And Dispute, Dissent,And Disputes, Dissent,Disagreement, Professional-Family,Disagreement, Professional-Patient,Disagreements, Professional-Family,Disagreements, Professional-Patient,Dispute, Dissent And,Disputes and Dissent,Disputes, Dissent And,Dissent, Political,Professional Family Disagreement,Professional Patient Disagreement,Professional-Family Disagreements,Professional-Patient Disagreements