"Pain talk" in hospice and palliative care team meetings: an ethnography

BACKGROUND: Specialist palliative care nurses have considerable expertise in pain management and this expertise can contribute to tension in the boundary between specialist nurses and non-specialist doctors. OBJECTIVES: This article reports on how specialist palliative care nurses contribute to team talk about pain and the rhetorical strategies they use to develop their reputation and credibility in pain management. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This is an ethnographic study involving the collection of naturally occurring data from eight palliative care team meetings. The study is concerned with team meetings in hospice, community and hospital palliative care settings. METHODS: Data was collected by audio recording eight team meetings in hospice, hospital and community palliative care settings. The data were analysed using a grounded theory approach followed by application of the tools of discourse and conversation analysis. RESULTS: The findings indicate that specialist palliative care nurses use rhetorical strategies such as contrastive rhetoric, telling atrocity stories, veiled criticism and neutralism as a platform for building a reputation in managing pain. Furthermore they situate their expertise in pain management by direct contrast with problems related to non-specialist practice in pain management. CONCLUSIONS: The team meetings are a safe place, a collegial setting for specialist nurses to challenge non-specialist medical practice and to manage the specialist/non-specialist boundary. The findings have implications for further research related to the specialist nurse/non-specialist doctor boundary and for education of specialist nurses and GPs.     

Effects of the hospital-based palliative care team on the care for cancer patients: An evaluation study

Background

The hospital-based palliative care team model has been implemented in most Western countries, but this model is new in Taiwan and there is little research to evaluate its outcomes.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the hospital-based palliative care team on the care for cancer patients.

Design

The design was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest design.

Setting

A medical center, National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

Participants

Cancer patients were excluded after the hospital-based palliative care team visited if they were unable to give informed consent, were not well enough to finish the baseline assessment, were likely to die within 24 h or would be discharged within 24 h, or could not communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese. A sample of 60 patients who consulted the hospital-based palliative care team was recruited.

Methods

Patients recruited to the study were divided to receive the usual care only (control group, n = 30) or the usual care plus visits from the hospital-based palliative care team (intervention group, n = 30). Data were collected using questionnaires including the Symptom Distress Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and Social Support Scale at the initial assessment and one week later.

Results

Comparison between groups revealed that the degree change for edema, fatigue, dry mouth, abdominal distention, and spiritual well-being in the intervention group showed significant improvement compared to the control group (p < 0.05). However, there was no difference between groups on measures of anxiety, depression and feeling of social support. Within group analysis showed patients’ pain score, dyspnea, and dysphagia improved in both groups (p < 0.05). In addition, the average degree of constipation and insomnia in the control group declined from baseline (p < 0.05), while the degree of edema, fatigue, dry mouth, appetite loss, abdominal distention, and dizziness decreased significantly in the intervention group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The findings indicated the hospital-based palliative care team can improve the care for patients in relation to symptom management and spiritual well-being. The hospital-based palliative care team is a good care model for patients and worth implementing in clinical practice in Taiwan. The results also provide a general understanding about how the hospital-based palliative care team works in Taiwanese culture.     

Changes in medical and nursing care in cancer patients transferred from a palliative care team to a palliative care unit

The primary aim of this study was to explore the changes in medical/nursing care in patients who transferred from a palliative care team (PCT) to a palliative care unit (PCU) in the same hospital, and to explore the reasons why new or modified interventions were required. This was a retrospective study of 50 consecutive patients who were transferred from PCT to PCU in a 750-bed general hospital. A trained nurse performed a chart review and recorded the changes in 1) medical/nursing care, 2) help with decision-making within 48 hours after PCU admission, and 3) documentation of family and psycho-existential care. Group discussions among PCT and PCU staff members explored the potential reasons for the changes. Five patients were excluded due to admission periods of shorter than 48 hours. The number of new/modified medical and nursing care interventions after PCU admission averaged 1.9 ± 1.5 and 1.5 ± 1.3 per patient, respectively. The most common medical treatments were: reduction in hydration volume, dose titration of opioids, change in opioid administration device, opioid rotation, and addition of NSAIDs and steroids. The most common nursing interventions were: allowing patient to take a bath, changing mattress, use of massage, and discontinuation of bronchial suctioning. In addition, PCU staff newly coordinated opportunities to discuss preferred end-of-life care with primary caregivers in 38% of the cases, family members other than primary caregivers in 16%, and patients in 6.7%. The chart documentation of family care and psycho-existential care increased considerably after PCU admission. The chief reasons for these changes were: under-recognition of the problems and unavailability of treatments (pharmacological treatments), no intention to intervene and recommendations not followed by primary physicians (rehydration therapy), no intention to intervene (nursing care), and no intention to intervene and under-recognition of the problems (help with decision-making). These data demonstrate that many patients under PCT consultation receive new or modified interventions after PCU admission. Potentially useful strategies to strengthen the PCT interventions are: modification of intervention structure to minimize under-recognition of symptoms and decision making problems (e.g., use of standardized assessment tools, regular conferences), changes in the health care system to allow unlicensed drugs, clinical studies to clarify the benefits of artificial hydration therapy, and greater efforts to intervene in the areas of nursing care, help with decision making, family care, and psycho-existential care.     

Esthetic abilities: a way to describe abilities of expert nurses in palliative home care

Aim. The aim of this paper is to focus on the abilities needed to create the caring relation in palliative home care and to find ways to describe these abilities and skills from an esthetic perspective. Background. Nurses in Palliative home care have to create a functioning relationship between themselves the patient and the patient's next of kin, this puts special demands on the nurse. A number of abilities, such as creativity, intuition, empathy and self‐knowledge are mentioned in literature related to the caring relation. Many nursing theorists have referred to the art and esthetic of nursing when trying to describe these abilities. Methods. Data were collected using semi‐structured interviews with eight expert nurses in palliative home care. The transcribed interviews were analysed using qualitative content analyses. Findings. Three main categories where found: The will to do good, Knowledge and Perceptiveness. Subcategories that can be seen as abilities where found in the main categories knowledge and perceptiveness. Conclusions. The main categories can be seen as expressions for abilities, personal qualities and skills needed to create the caring relation in palliative home care. We found interesting connections between the three main categories and the concepts of esthetics, ethics and science. We also found that nurses develop in a way, i.e. similar to an artist. Relevance to clinical practice. The concepts brought forward in this paper could be used in clinical supervision and education as well as in clinical practice. If nurses think about the three aspects: Knowledge, the will to do good and perceptiveness, the chance for a positive relation between the nurse and the patient, and the patient's next of kin might increase. One could speculate that perceptiveness is a vital ability in order to achieve the expert level of nursing and that this perspective should be taken in consideration when recruiting nurses and in curriculum development.     

国内外姑息护理的研究进展

阐述了国内外姑息护理理论和实践方面的研究进展,以及我国发展姑息护理存在的困难和进一步发展的建议。     

Being a close relative of a person with severe, chronic heart failure in palliative advanced home care -- a comfort but also a strain

Within previous research on family care of terminally ill people, studies have only rarely been carried out concerning heart failure care. This study aims to illuminate meanings of being a close relative of a person with severe, chronic heart failure (CHF) in palliative advanced home care (PAHC). Narrative interviews were conducted with three close relatives, tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and a phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used to interpret the text. Meanings of being a close relative is to follow the life-threatening ups and downs, the person with CHF is going through. This means being on primary call, always on standby to mediate security and pleasure. In the deepest downs it is also to call for the back-up call i.e. the PAHC team, trusting their ability to show up on time to alleviate in the worst downs i.e. ease suffering. This study reveals that to be the close relative that the ill person is dependent on 24 hours a day is both a comfort and a strain.     

A shared care model pilot for palliative home care in a rural area: impact on symptoms, distress, and place of death

Context

Shared care models integrating family physician services with interdisciplinary palliative care specialist teams are critical to improve access to quality palliative home care and address multiple domains of end-of-life issues and needs.

Objectives

To examine the impact of a shared care pilot program on the primary outcomes of symptom severity and emotional distress (patient and family separately) over time and, secondarily, the concordance between patient preferences and place of death.

Methods

An inception cohort of patients (n = 95) with advanced, progressive disease, expected to die within six months, were recruited from three rural family physician group practices (21 physicians) and followed prospectively until death or pilot end. Serial measurement of symptoms, emotional distress (patient and family), and preferences for place of death was performed, with analysis of changes in distress outcomes assessed using t-tests and general linear models.

Results

Symptoms trended toward improvement, with a significant reduction in anxiety from baseline to 14 days noted. Symptom and emotional distress were maintained below high severity (7-10), and a high rate of home death compared with population norms was observed.

Conclusion

Future controlled studies are needed to examine outcomes for shared care models with comparison groups. Shared care models build on family physician capacity and as such are promising in the development of palliative home care programs to improve access to quality palliative home care and foster health system integration.     

An exploratory study of interprofessional collaboration in end-of-life decision-making beyond palliative care settings

As healthcare delivery becomes increasingly interprofessional, it is imperative to identify opportunities for effective collaboration and coordination of care. Drawing on a Canadian qualitative study that adopted a constant comparative method based on the grounded theory approach, we report how healthcare providers’ (HCPs) personal experiences and professional roles intersect with system factors in hindering or enhancing their ability to support patients and families in planning for end-of-life (EOL) care. We used a criterion-based sampling strategy and sought HCPs who had direct experience engaging patients and families in complex healthcare decisions on: (1) initiating, withholding, or withdrawing treatment; (2) care planning; and/or (3) discharge planning. Interviews sought to understand what HCPs perceived as individual, (inter)professional, and system factors that might hinder, promote, or enhance support for patients/families. We present four major intersecting themes from in-depth interviews with 28 HCPs across acute, long-term, and community care settings that represent three barriers and one facilitator: discomfort with death and dying, confusion about role responsibility, lack of coordinated care, and importance of interprofessional teamwork. Attending to system power hierarchy, we explore interprofessional strategies to support patients’ and families’ care experiences and promote team-based decision-making. We recommend an interprofessional team approach to facilitate EOL decision-making across care settings and before death becomes imminent. Increasing educational initiatives and developing tools that focus on interprofessional collaboration may help HCPs to understand each other’s roles and perspectives, so that they can work together to provide a more coherent and coordinated approach to EOL decision-making.     

Developing palliative care practice in nursing and residential care homes: the role of the clinical nurse specialist

The development of practice is but one aspect of Clinical Nurse Specialists' (CNSs) work, and a number of factors act to shape the extent to which CNSs are able to work with and develop practice with nursing and residential care homes. A postal survey of 730 community CNSs in palliative care working in the UK was undertaken to explore the involvement of these nurses with nursing and residential care homes. Much of the focus of the involvement was reactive work meeting the direct clinical needs of residents, primarily with cancer. Although the CNSs perceived that there were some educational and care deficits in these care settings, the amount of proactive work undertaken to improve practice was limited. The development work undertaken was focused on educational initiatives and establishing link nurse systems. There is potential to develop palliative care practice in nursing and residential care homes through practice development initiatives.     

Implementing audit in palliative care: an action research approach

AIM: To investigate the factors that influence the successful implementation of audit in a palliative care setting. BACKGROUND: Quality assurance is a necessary component of contemporary health care. In the past, palliative care has not generally been subject to systems of audit and quality management. However in recent years the need for all health care organizations to have clear policies and procedures for maintaining quality has become more pressing. METHOD: An action research project was conducted to investigate the implementation of audit in a palliative care setting, which involved the application and modification of the Support Team Assessment Scale (STAS). FINDINGS: A collaborative approach was adopted and this facilitated the identification of factors vital to successful introduction of the audit methodology into the unit. These included effective teamwork, the input of an external facilitator, good relationships with management and prompt and relevant feedback on progress. The use of STAS was fully integrated into the work of the unit and a robust programme of audit has been established. CONCLUSIONS: Combining the cyclical nature of action research methodology and the audit process with Lewin's change theory provided a clear conceptual framework for the research. This approach would be applicable in a range of health care settings to bring about improvements in quality management.     

Being a palliative care nurse in an academic hospital: a qualitative study about nurses' perceptions of palliative care nursing

The original philosophy of palliative care emphasizes the importance of the integration of compassion and medical science. The meaning palliative care nurses assign to their relationships with patients has been described in several studies. This qualitative research was undertaken in order to elicit the way nurses working on a palliative care ward in an academic hospital perceive their role and gain insight into the problems they encounter. The findings present two different perceptions held by nurses about the nature of their work. The first, the more prominent, is 'striving to adopt a well-organized and purposeful approach as a nurse on an academic ward'; the second is 'striving to enhance the well-being of the patient'. Nurses should be supported in the development of their palliative care approach and be assisted in reflecting on their practice in terms of a model of 'reflective practice' and in the development of 'moral imagination'.