States during observation of more than 9,000 patients
(SUPPORT Principal Investigators, 1995). The
SUPPORT study showed a significant deficiency in
communication of patients’ desires for EOL care to
their healthcare team and shortcomings in frequency
of aggressive treatment and other characteristics of
death in hospitals, such as do-not-resuscitate (DNR)
orders being written within two days of the patient
dying or family members reporting that half the time