LOS ANGELES, CA – Displaying once again why they are the most dominant subspecialty at Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC) right now, Palliative Care has just extended their amazing streak again by making their 35th straight patient DNR.
“You’ve got to ride the hot hand and right now it’s the team of Dr. Mattie Tuttle & nurse practitioner Ralph Roach on Palliative Care,” said LAMC hospitalist Jeff Barrels, who currently has zero patients that are full code. “They’re like the Mariano Rivera of inpatient care. When it’s late and things are looking dicey, call Tuttle & Roach to get your patient out.”
Tuttle & Roach admit that they’re streaky when it comes to family meetings. Their longest DNR streak was 22 consecutive patients back in 2017. However, prior to this incredible run, the duo went to 18 straight family meetings without establishing a single DNR.
“We were frustrated. We went back to drawing board when we were in that DNR slump,” explained Tuttle, who admits they feel unstoppable at the moment. “We broke down our approach, really simplified things and went back to the basics of goals of care discussions. Once we got that first DNR, we locked in and it’s all about momentum now.”
LAMC personnel knew they were witnessing something special when Palliative Care converted back-to-back-to-back DNRs before lunchtime on December 25, 2019, one of whom was a healthy newborn baby without any reason to be DNR so soon.
“We’re taking it one code status at a time,” Roach told Gomerblog, who is well aware the world-record for consecutive DNRs is within reach at 44. “It’s not about breaking records, but I’d be lying if I told you we weren’t thinking about it.”
