Often, people go into these living facilities because they are no longer able to do their own housekeeping and cooking. I believe their average age is about 78. By age 87, the odds are about even that they have some dementia and are frail. The risk of CPR breaking ribs and possibly the sternum is high. And, even if the CPR is successful, the chances for recovery are low. If the person survives with broken ribs/sternum, chances for recovery will be even lower and very painful.
The nurse may have been familiar with this woman's health status and wondered why she should risk her job in a futile attempt to save a life.
I have seen the types of people who live in these facilities and in my opinion many of them have little regard for their own health. Many of them are overweight, some have had strokes and heart attacks, and yet they like the idea of being served restaurant food once, twice or three times a day. These places, essentially, are an assembly line to oblivion.
What kind of life would she have been saved for? Let's just say she's in a better place.
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