What Is a DNR Order? A Plain-Language Guide for Families
A DNR is a medical order about CPR. It is not an order to stop all care. This page explains the difference, and lists each state's out-of-hospital form.
A DNR covers CPR. It does not mean no care.
DNR means do not resuscitate. It is a medical order. If the heart stops or breathing stops, clinicians will not try CPR.
CPR is the emergency attempt to keep blood and oxygen moving. MedlinePlus Opens in a new tab. describes it as hard, fast pushes on the center of the chest. A device called an AED may give a shock if the heart rhythm can be shocked. People with training may also give breaths.
A DNR does not mean do not treat. Pain medicine, oxygen, antibiotics, surgery, and comfort care can continue. Other treatments stop only if you and your clinician decide that, or if another order says so.
Read the form name for your state. The words matter. Ohio, for example, uses both DNR Comfort Care and DNR Comfort Care-Arrest. Ask a clinician what each name changes in your state. Do not assume every state uses the same words.
What survival numbers can and cannot tell you
National numbers are not a promise for one person. They also are not a reason to skip CPR if you want it. They are a reason to ask your clinician what CPR would likely mean for you.
The Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) counts out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in communities that report to it, when a 911 responder tries CPR or a shock. In its 2024 national summary, 10.5% of those people survived to leave the hospital. That is about 10 or 11 out of 100. About 8.2% left with good or moderate brain function. CARES calls that CPC 1 or 2.
Place matters. In the 2024 CARES survival report, survival to hospital discharge was 8.9% when the arrest was at home, 20.8% in a public place, and 4.4% in a nursing home. Among nursing-home arrests, 1.8% left the hospital with good or moderate brain function. A nursing home is one marker of frailty. It is not every serious illness.
Your chances depend on your health, why the heart stopped, and how fast help starts. A shockable rhythm and a witnessed arrest are different from an unwitnessed arrest in a person who is already very ill. Ask your own clinician. Do not use these figures to decide for someone else.
DNR, living will, and health care power of attorney
These papers do different jobs. You may want more than one.
- DNR. A medical order about CPR if the heart stops or breathing stops. A clinician signs it.
- Living will. Medicare Opens in a new tab. describes this as the part of an advance directive that says which treatments you would want if your life is threatened. It can mention resuscitation, a breathing machine, and tube feeding. It is not, by itself, the order emergency crews follow in the driveway.
- Health care power of attorney. Medicare calls this a health care proxy. It names a person you trust to decide if you cannot. It does not, by itself, say yes or no to CPR.
A POLST is a broader medical order for a person who is seriously ill or frail. CPR is one line on it. A breathing machine and a hospital transfer can be separate lines. National POLST treats those as different choices.
In the hospital and outside it
A hospital can write a DNR in the chart. That order may not travel with you when you leave.
Outside the hospital, paramedics usually need your state's portable DNR or POLST, or an approved bracelet, where they can see it. Many official pages tell people to keep the form on the refrigerator, by the bed, or with the person.
A living will at home is still worth having. It guides the person you named, and it helps the hospital team. It is a weak tool for the first minutes of an emergency in the living room.
How to get a DNR
Talk with a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Tell them what you want if your heart stops. Ask them to explain what CPR would likely do in your situation.
Who signs the form depends on the state. The provider forms page gives the signer from each official page. In most states you cannot finish the form alone. A few states let you start a form before a clinician signs. The how-to-get line for your state says which is which.
You can change your mind. Call the clinician, void the old form the way your state requires, and tell your family where the new papers are.
Your state
The portable DNR for your state, and the POLST-type order when the state has one. A clinician has to sign these.
All MOST, POLST, and DNR formsWatch a short video
Heart and CPR explains the attempt to restart a heart. Comfort care and who decides explains the rest of the choices.
Heart and CPR
What it means to try to restart a heart, in words you can share before you have to decide.
Comfort care and who decides
How comfort comes first near the end, and who can speak when a loved one cannot.
These videos are educational. They are not medical or legal advice.
Decide how you feel about CPR before a crisis
Decide how you feel about CPR before a crisis. Record your wishes in LifeWishGuardian and share them with your family and doctor.
The video helps your family hear you. It does not replace a signed DNR.
Questions families ask
What does DNR mean in medical terms?
DNR means do not resuscitate. It is a medical order. If the heart stops or breathing stops, the care team will not try CPR. CPR is the emergency attempt to keep blood and oxygen moving, usually with hard, fast pushes on the chest, and sometimes a shock from an AED.
Does a DNR mean no treatment?
No. A DNR does not mean no care. Medicine, oxygen, surgery, antibiotics, and comfort care can still be given unless a different order says otherwise. Some state forms, such as Ohio's DNR Comfort Care orders, use names that cover more than the moment of arrest. Ask your clinician what your state's form changes.
What is a DNR bracelet?
Some states let a person wear a bracelet or necklace that matches a signed DNR order, so emergency crews can see it. A bracelet from a store, with no state-approved order behind it, may not count. The provider forms page says what each official page mentions. If it says none is mentioned, ask your clinician before you buy one.
How do you get a DNR form in your state?
Talk with a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. In most states a clinician has to sign the order. You usually cannot download a form and make it valid by yourself. The provider forms page names each state's form, who signs it, and the official information page.
Can you change your mind about a DNR?
Yes. Tell your clinician you want the order canceled. Ask what to do with the old form and any bracelet, so emergency crews do not follow an order you no longer want. Do this before a crisis if you can.
Will EMS follow a DNR at home?
Emergency crews can follow a valid out-of-hospital DNR or POLST that they can see. Rules differ by state. A living will in a drawer is not the same thing. A hospital DNR may not apply outside that hospital. Keep the signed state form where crews will look, such as on the refrigerator, by the bed, or with the person.
Sources
These pages use public pages from agencies and national programs. They do not invent statistics.