scholarly journals Registered nurses' provision of end-of-life care to hospitalised adults: A mixed studies review

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 60-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Karbasi ◽  
E. Pacheco ◽  
C. Bull ◽  
A. Evanson ◽  
W. Chaboyer
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margareta Karlsson ◽  
Anne Kasén ◽  
Carola Wärnå-Furu

AbstractObjective:When registered nurses care for patients at the end of life, they are often confronted with different issues related to suffering, dying, and death whether working in hospital or community care. Serious existential questions that challenge nurses’ identities as human beings can arise as a result of these situations. The aim of our study was to describe and gain a deeper understanding of nurses’ existential questions when caring for dying patients.Method:Focus-group interviews with registered nurses who shared similar experiences and backgrounds about experiences in end-of-life care were employed to gain a deeper understanding about this sensitive subject. Focus-group interviews were performed in hospice care, in community care, and in a palliative care unit in western Sweden. A qualitative hermeneutic approach was employed to interpret the data.Results:Nurses’ existential questions balanced between responsibility and guilt in relation to their patients, between fear and courage in relation to being professional caregivers and fellow human beings, and between hope and despair in relation to the other's and their own death.Significance of results:Nurses in end-of-life care experience various emotions from patients related to things physical, spatial, and temporal. When nurses encounter these emotions as expressing a patient's suffering, they lead to challenges of balancing between different feelings in relation to patients, as both professional caregivers and fellow human beings. Nurses can experience growth both professionally and as human beings when caring for patients at the end of life.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelija Blazeviciene ◽  
Lina Laurs ◽  
Jamesetta A Newland

Abstract Background: End-of-life care is provided in a variety of healthcare settings, not just palliative care hospitals. This is one reason it is very important to assess all the obstacles to end-of-life care and to provide safe and quality services to patients. The main purpose of this study was to examine attitudes faced by registered nurses in providing end-of-life care and to explore obstacles and supportive behaviors for nurses. Methods: A descriptive, correlational design was applied in this study. Cross‐sectional survey of 1320 registered nurses within 7 hospitals in Lithuania. Results: Registered nurses working in the three different profiles emphasized safe and effective care andthe importance of meeting the patient's spiritual needs at the end of life. The main obstacles assigned by nurses caring for patients at the end of life were angry family membersthe inadequate understanding of nursing care by the patient's relatives; family members' inadequate knowledge about the situation and lack of time to talk to patients about their wishes, lack of nursing knowledge to deal with the bereaved patient's family, lack of evaluation of nurses' opinions, and the evasion by physicians to talk about the diagnosis and their over-optimistic view of the situation. Conclusions: Spiritual needs were identified by nurses as the primary needs of patients at the end of life. Family-related obstacles remain one of the main obstacles to end-of-life care. Also, the behavior of physicians and their relationship with nurses remains one of the most sensitive issues in end-of-life care.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelija Blazeviciene ◽  
Lina Laurs ◽  
Jamesetta A Newland

Abstract Background: End-of-life care is provided in a variety of healthcare settings, not just palliative care hospitals. This is one reason why it is very important to assess all barriers to end-of-life care and to provide safe and quality services to patients. This study was aimed at describing nurses' attitudes in providing end-of-life care and exploring barriers and facilitating behaviors of nurses in multi-profile hospitals in Eastern Europe.Methods: A descriptive, correlational design was applied in this study, using a cross-sectional survey of 1,320 registered nurses within 7 hospitals in Lithuania. Results: Registered nurses working in the three different profiles emphasized safe and effective care and the importance of meeting the patient's spiritual needs at the end of life. The main barriers assigned by nurses caring for patients at the end of life were angry family members, inadequate understanding of nursing care by the patient's relatives; lack of time to talk to patients, lack of nursing knowledge to deal with the bereaved patient's family, lack of evaluation of nurses' opinions, and the evasion by physicians to talk about the diagnosis and their over-optimistic view of the situation. The main facilitating behaviors to improve nursing care were end-of-life training, volunteering, and family involvement.Conclusions: Spiritual needs were identified by nurses as the primary needs of patients at the end of life. Family-related barriers remain one of the main barriers to end-of-life care. Also, the behavior of physicians and their relationship with nurses remains one of the most sensitive issues in end-of-life care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 104772
Author(s):  
Sofi Fristedt ◽  
Annika Grynne ◽  
Christina Melin-Johansson ◽  
Ingela Henoch ◽  
Carina Lundh Hagelin ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla Ventura-Medeiros

End of life care is a growing specialty in healthcare and requires specialized knowledge and care by the nurse. Many patients end their life in an acute care setting which may be lacking in providers who are well versed in end of life care, specifically comfort measures. Therefore, assessing the registered nurses knowledge of comfort measures only, as a component of end of life care, is a critical first step in improving end of life patient and family experience. By identifying current provider knowledge of comfort care and the understanding of practice guidelines, a specific and relevant educational program can be developed. This project will evaluate the level of self-reported knowledge of registered nurses who are caring for patients designated with comfort measures only orders. With successful completion of this project, the educational needs for these registered nurses will be identified and utilized to improve education and care delivery for patients who are on comfort measures only.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document