Someone sent me a video of an investigative nurse on the frontlines, asking about the validity of the footage.

In the video the MD is heard arguing with the dayshift nurse over why they weren’t going to code the patient. The question was: is this a hoax?

Absolutely not. That is a real reality. I don’t want to justify those actions, but it is a new normal that “codes” aren’t traditional codes anymore. Codes are more dangerous than ever and that is where the hesitancy rests. Do I agree? It’s a question of ethics.

Do I want to save every single person afflicted with COVID— yes. We all do, but the underlying truth is, most people who get to the point where they code with this virus survival rate is very low.

We will code them with drugs, but seldom do I see chest compressions anymore. The exposure to staff and the likelihood of survival are taken into account.

We have to plan for the likelihood of a code and work to get that status changed to DNR earlier.

Medical teams are having to make hard decisions and everything is looked at on a case by case basis.

We are working hard with families to get code statuses changed to DNR, once they show signs of major decline, so we aren’t faced with making those tough choices on our own.

We need the support of families to understand the risk and benefits of coding a love one in these unprecedented times.

This should always be looked at on an individual scale, but it’s become more widely normalized not to ‘code’ COVID patients in the traditional sense.

It becomes a moral dilemma— protect staff or save the patient. I am personally torn, but would not hesitate to save a life as I’ve been trained to do.