You are a new nurse and just started a new job at a nursing home. You are given a list of policies and procedures to read and you note that one of the policies feels ethically wrong to you. The policy states that if a patient goes into cardiac arrest you are to call EMS regardless of the patient's code status. You ARE NOT ALLOWED to do CPR on any patients. The facility also does not have an AED or code cart available.
You have just recently been certified in CPR. You are caring for a 63 year old woman who is temporarily in the nursing facility for rehabilitation following a hip replacement. You note that she is a "Full Code" status. You enter the room and are assessing the patient when she suddenly states she has chest pain and then goes unresponsive. Knowing the policy states you are not to do CPR, do you ignore the policy and start CPR knowing that you can save this person's life? Or do you call 911 and wait knowing that this patient will surely die while waiting for EMS to arrive?