Incorporating End-of-Life Care into the Management of Dead on Arrival Patients in the Emergency Department: Invited Commentary

Abstract

In this issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing, Bove et al1 seek to describe the epidemiological characteristics of patients who were dead on arrival (DOA) in the emergency department. Traditionally, DOA patients have been studied by the medical and nursing communities using the term outside-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The use of DOA, rather than OHCA, has important implications for how we think about these patients. The focus shifts to patients who arrive in the emergency department and the subsequent impact on care, particularly for emergency nurses who have a critical role in resuscitation and in supporting the families of DOA patients.