DNAR Discussion with an Elderly Man with Heart Failure and His Wife

A timed 15-minute communication OSCE station with reading time, a warning bell and an examiner-style weighted checklist including critical items, marked the way a real examiner would mark it.

Communication15 min12 checklist items

Station type: Communication
Time: 15 minutes, after 60s reading
Total marks: 23.5
Critical items: 2 (missing one fails the station)

Candidate instructions

You are a Foundation Year 1 doctor on a cardiology ward. You have been asked to discuss a do-not-attempt-resuscitation (DNAR) decision with Mr. Arthur Henderson, an 84-year-old man with severe heart failure, and his wife, Mrs. Winifred Henderson. Mr. Henderson has been admitted with acute decompensation and is very frail. The consultant believes that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would be unlikely to succeed and would cause more harm than good. Your task is to discuss this openly with Mr. Henderson and his wife, explore their understanding, explain the situation, and seek agreement to a DNAR order. You have 15 minutes. Mr. Henderson is mentally alert and currently has capacity to make this decision.

How the station runs

60 seconds of reading time with the instructions above, and nothing else.
15 minutes on the clock, with a warning bell before the end.
The examiner's checklist, 12 weighted items worth 23.5 marks, revealed only when the station ends.
Your score, with a critical-fail flag if a safety-critical item was missed.

The checklist stays hidden until the station is over, exactly as it would outside the exam room.

Log in to run "DNAR Discussion with an Elderly Man with Heart Failure and His Wife"

A free account starts the clock: reading time, the station itself with a warning bell, then the examiner's checklist and your score.

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Educational content for students and clinicians in training. It does not replace professional judgement, local protocols or current prescribing information.