A DNR (do-not-resuscitate) order is a medical order written by a health care provider. It tells providers not to do CPR if your breathing or heartbeat stops. It covers CPR only, not pain medicine or other treatments. You can change your mind at any time. Talk it through with your provider, and note your wishes in an advance directive.
Sources: MedlinePlus: Do-not-resuscitate order; National Institute on Aging: Advance directives. Sources checked 2026-10-14.
If a doctor or nurse has asked you, or a parent, "Do you want CPR?" or "Have you thought about a DNR?", you're not alone in feeling unprepared. This page explains the terms in plain language so the conversation with the care team is easier.
Education only. Not medical or legal advice. This page doesn't recommend any choice. Decisions about CPR and DNR orders belong to the patient (or their legal decision-maker) together with their health care providers. Rules and forms vary by state. Facts below are drawn from MedlinePlus, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, unless another source is linked.
A do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order is a medical order written by a health care provider. It tells providers not to perform CPR if the patient's breathing stops or their heart stops beating.
A DNR is specific to CPR. According to MedlinePlus, it does not contain instructions about other treatments, such as pain medicine, other medicines, or nutrition. Having a DNR does not mean "no care."
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is the treatment given when the heart or breathing stops. MedlinePlus lists that it may involve: - Pressing hard on the chest, and rescue breathing - Electric shock to try to restart the heart - Breathing tubes to open the airway and give oxygen - Medicines
Television tends to show CPR as quick and usually successful. In real life, how likely CPR is to work, and what recovery looks like afterward, depends a great deal on the person's health and situation. That's exactly the kind of question to ask the care team about the specific person involved.
In most settings, if a person's heart or breathing stops and there's no DNR order, the care team will attempt CPR. MedlinePlus puts it simply: if you want CPR, you don't have to do anything. A DNR is something you request; it doesn't happen on its own.
A person with a DNR order can change their mind and ask for CPR. If that happens, tell the provider and care team right away, tell family and caregivers, and destroy old documents showing the DNR.
Usually not on a set date, but check your state. Many states' out-of-hospital DNR orders stay in effect until someone revokes them. Texas law says an out-of-hospital DNR order "is effective until it is revoked" (Texas Health and Safety Code 166.091). New Mexico's rule keeps an EMS DNR order in effect indefinitely unless it's revoked or the document gives its own expiration date (N.M. Admin. Code 7.27.6.8). Either way, the person can change their mind at any time (MedlinePlus).
Two practical checks: - Hospital vs. home. A DNR written in the hospital lives in that hospital's medical record. Ask the care team whether it applies after discharge, or whether a separate out-of-hospital form, bracelet, or POLST is needed for home, a nursing home, or an ambulance. MedlinePlus notes providers can explain how to get documents for non-hospital settings. - Review it when things change: a new diagnosis, a move to another state, or a move into a care home. Forms and rules differ by state.
These are "code status" terms. They say what the team does if the heart stops or breathing stops. - Full code: the team attempts everything: CPR, electric shocks to the heart, medicines, and a breathing tube with a ventilator. If there's no order saying otherwise, this is the default. - DNR (do not resuscitate): no CPR if the heart or breathing stops. New York's health department defines it as "do not attempt CPR" (NY State Department of Health: Deciding About Health Care). Other treatment can continue. - DNI (do not intubate): no breathing tube and no breathing machine. The same New York guide defines it as not placing a tube down the throat or connecting the patient to a breathing machine. - DNR/DNI: both.
Labels and allowed combinations differ between hospitals. Some don't offer DNI on its own (CHI Health: Making Decisions About CPR). So ask what each option means where the person is being treated, and write the answer down. An advance directive that mentions CPR is not the same as a DNR or DNI order (StatPearls: Do Not Resuscitate).
These terms get mixed up. In plain terms:
MedlinePlus suggests including DNR wishes in an advance directive and telling your health care agent and family about your decision.
According to MedlinePlus: if a provider already wrote a DNR at the person's request, family may not override it. If the person named a health care agent, that agent (or a legal guardian) can agree to a DNR for them. If no one was named, a family member may be able to agree to a DNR in some circumstances, but only when the person can't make their own decisions. State law shapes the details.
Writing these down ahead of time helps when emotions run high:
We wrote a longer plain-language guide with worksheets for thinking this through and preparing for the conversation with the care team. It's educational only and doesn't recommend any choice.
Updated 2026-10-14.