scholarly journals Terminal Care in Older Patients in Hospital: Development of a Quality Indicator Set and its First Application in a Retrospective Comparison of Patients Treated in an Acute Geriatric Unit and a Palliative Care Unit of a Belgian University Hospital

Author(s):  
Annelies Cools
2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282095218
Author(s):  
Frédérique Drillaud ◽  
Camille Saussac ◽  
Florence Keusch ◽  
Danièle Lafaye ◽  
Hélène Bely ◽  
...  

The WHO has included the spiritual dimension in its definition of palliative care since 1990, but this dimension is frequently confused with notions of religion. Yet, the spiritual suffering experienced by palliative care patients is primarily a matter of existential suffering. The objective of this study was to examine the ways in which the existential dimension was manifested in the experiences of those present in a palliative care unit. This anthropological monograph was conducted in a palliative care unit in a French University Hospital. The existential dimension appears to reside in the connections between individuals and the proximity of death appears to shed new light on the meaning of life. The mirror effect of death on life, could serve to encourage greater appreciation of the value of our connections with others, and the desire to take care of others, which offers new insight into forms of solidarity and social organisation.


1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwenaëlle Vidal-Trécan ◽  
Jean Luc Fouilladieu ◽  
Geneviève Petitgas ◽  
Aliette Chassepoux ◽  
Geneviève Ladegaillerie ◽  
...  

The views of French physicians and nurses of the organization of palliative care have not been previously analyzed. We surveyed opinion on the care of the terminally ill in a 1000-bed Paris university hospital. Data were obtained in 1992 by non-directed interviews of leading physicians and semi-directed interviews of nurses. Most physicians wished to manage terminal care in their departments. Patient and family preferences were considered in choosing the place for care. Treatment of hospitalized patients should be limited to relieving symptoms. Department heads and senior nurses agreed on most problems encountered in the management of care. The psychological burden borne by nurses was emphasized. Terminal care training and the possibility of consulting experts in palliative care were the main suggestions for improvement cited by both department heads and senior nurses. Integrating this knowledge into the planning process should result in improved care and in increased satisfaction for the care providers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 107-107
Author(s):  
Takeshi Terui ◽  
Yasuo Hirayama ◽  
Takayuki Machino ◽  
Toshiro Kusakabe ◽  
Kenji Nakamura ◽  
...  

107 Background: Our hospital is a cancer-specific facility that treats patients from diagnosis to terminal care. We evaluate the possibility of effective cancer chemotherapies for patients referred to our palliative care unit from other hospitals through case conferences in our institution. Even the patients referred to the palliative care unit of our institution are sometimes assessed as “very likely to be improved by standard or semi-standard treatment” by the palliative care and oncologic teams in our institution. We surveyed inappropriate cases that were mistakenly assessed as indicated for terminal care in their previous hospital. Methods: We reviewed 1535 patients referred to our palliative care unit from other hospitals because of anticancer chemotherapy contraindications over a 3-year period. We determined the number of the patients who were thought to actually have indications for cancer chemotherapy. Results: During the case conferences, 31 (2.0%) of the 1535 patients were thought to have indications for cancer chemotherapies. Standard chemotherapies were administered in our hospital to 6 patients. Four of the 6 patients were alive at one year and recovered their social life. Conclusions: Prudent assessment using updated guidelines are needed at the time of patient referral of a hospice. Ethical problems clearly exist with patients who were mistakenly assessed as indicated for terminal care in their previous hospital. There remains room for discussion of whether it is an ethical problem to overturn the will of a patient having chosen best supportive care (including those for whom it was presented as the only option by previous doctors or those who made positively the choice themselves) and proceed with cancer treatment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. S16
Author(s):  
N. Van Den Noortgate ◽  
A. Cools ◽  
D. Vaneechoutte ◽  
K. Versluys ◽  
M. Petrovic ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Atsushi Shimizu ◽  
Mitsue Takeuchi ◽  
Fumio Kurosaki ◽  
Kaichiro Tamba ◽  
Naohiro Sata ◽  
...  

Background: Physician attire influences perceptions of care. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of physician attire on perceptions of care by patients and families in a Japanese palliative care unit. Methods: From November 2018 to February 2020, patients and family members admitted to the Palliative Care Unit at Jichi Medical University Hospital were recruited and completed a survey consisting of 4 demographic questions and 15 questions regarding perceptions of care. A 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 4 = neutral, 7 = strongly disagree) was used to judge attire (name tag, long sleeve white coat, short sleeve white coat, scrubs, scrub color, jeans, sneakers) addressing patient and overall impact on perception of care. Results: Of 203 patients admitted, 79 were enrolled. Surveys were received from 23 patients and 52 family members. Patients and families want physicians to wear name tags (median, interquartile range) (2, 1-2) and white coats (3, 2-4). Patients want to be addressed by surnames (2, 1.5-4). Patients and family members have neutral opinions about short sleeve white coats (4, 4-4) and scrubs (4, 4-4). Jeans were not liked (4, 4-6) while sneakers are acceptable (3, 2-4). The impact of attire on perceptions of care is significantly (p = .04) greater for patients (3, 2-4) than family members (4, 3-4). Conclusion: Patients and family members prefer their physicians to wear name tags and white coats and address patients by surnames. Physician attire has a significantly greater impact on perceptions of care for patients than family members in a palliative care unit.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-96
Author(s):  
Myrick C. Shinall ◽  
Jo Ellen Wilson ◽  
Mohana Karlekar ◽  
E. Wesley Ely

Context: Many older adults discharged from an inpatient stay require postacute facility placement, which can be a barrier to hospice enrollment since the Medicare hospice benefit does not cover facility costs for patients under routine hospice care. Objectives: To evaluate the extent to which need for postdischarge facility care was a barrier to hospice enrollment for older patients with short life expectancy discharged from a palliative care unit. Methods: Retrospective cohort using a prospectively collected database of patients 65 and older with a life expectancy of <6 months admitted to a palliative care unit in an urban, academic medical center and discharged alive from 2012 to 2017. Primary outcome was hospice enrollment at hospital discharge. Exposure of interest was need for facility placement at discharge. Results: Of 817 included patients, 649 (79%) were discharged with hospice. Patients discharged home had a significantly higher rate of hospice enrollment than patients discharged to a facility—92% versus 71% ( P < .0001). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, discharge to home versus facility remained a strong predictor of hospice enrollment, with an odds ratio for hospice enrollment of 6.04 (95% confidence interval: 3.73-9.79). Conclusion: Need for postdischarge facility placement represents a barrier for hospice enrollment among older patients who are otherwise hospice appropriate. The structure of the hospice benefit may require modification so that these hospice appropriate patients can utilize the benefit.


Author(s):  
Josiane Létourneau ◽  
Marie Alderson

Contexte : Les difficultés rencontrées pour améliorer les taux d'adhésion à l'hygiène des mains des infirmières suggèrent que de modifier ce comportement est une tâche complexe. Une approche novatrice - la déviance positive - propose de déterminer la présence d’individus plus performants afin de comprendre les facteurs qui pourraient expliquer cette meilleure performance. Le but de cette étude était d’explorer, sous l’angle de l’approche de la déviance positive, les facteurs qui influencent la pratique de l’hygiène des mains des infirmières en contexte hospitalier québécois. Méthode : Deux ethnographies focalisées ont été effectuées auprès de 21 infirmières sur une unité de médecine-chirurgie et une de soins palliatifs d’un centre hospitalier universitaire de Montréal. La collecte des données s’est déroulée en 2015, principalement lors de 18 entrevues individuelles et 14 périodes d’observation. Les données colligées ont été codées et regroupées sous des catégories. Résultats : Au niveau individuel, les participantes reconnaissent l’importance des connaissances sur le rôle de l’hygiène des mains dans la prévention des infections. Au niveau organisationnel, on constate une pratique collaborative à l’intérieur de chacune des équipes de soins. Au niveau environnemental, la disponibilité des distributeurs de solution hydro-alcoolique facilite la pratique de l’hygiène des mains. Au niveau socioculturel, les deux équipes travaillent ensemble vers un but commun, ce que nous avons nommé cohésion sociale, favorisée sur l’unité de médecine-chirurgie par le leadership de son infirmier-chef et sur l’unité des soins palliatifs par une pratique de soins empreinte d’humanisme. Discussion/Conclusion : Les connaissances découlant de cette étude permettent de comprendre qu’afin d’améliorer l’adhésion à l’hygiène des mains des infirmières, il serait préférable de cibler les équipes de soins qui performent le mieux afin d’y puiser des idées pour aider celles avec une moins bonne performance et d’élaborer des interventions qui intègrent des facteurs à plusieurs niveaux, non seulement au niveau individuel, mais aussi aux niveaux organisationnels, environnementaux et socioculturels. Background: Challenges encountered in improving nurses’ hand hygiene adherence rates suggest that changing this behavior is a complex task. An innovative approachpositive deviance-propose to identify better-performing individuals in order to understand the factors that could explain their better performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing nurses’ hand hygiene practices at a Quebec hospital from the perspective of positive deviance. Method: Two focused ethnographies were conducted involving 21 nurses on one medical-surgery unit and one palliative care unit at a Montreal university hospital. Data was collected in 2015, primarily during 18 individual interviews and 14 observation periods. The collected data was coded and sorted into categories. Results: At an individual level, the participants recognized the importance of knowledge of the role of hand hygiene in the prevention of infections. At the organizational level, we observed collaborative practices within each care team. At the environmental level, the availability of alcohol-based hand hygiene dispensers facilitated hand hygiene practice. At the sociocultural level, the two teams worked together towards a common goal, a practice we refer to as social cohesion, encouraged on the medicalsurgery unit by the head nurse’s leadership and on the palliative care unit by a humanistic care practice. Discussion/conclusion: The knowledge gained from this study shows that, to improve nurses’ hand hygiene adherence, it would be preferable to target better-performing care teams so that we may draw on their ideas to help less performing teams and develop interventions integrating factors at several levels, not only individually but also organizationally, environmentally and socio-culturally.


2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 642-648
Author(s):  
Samantha Aeckerle ◽  
Marina Moor ◽  
Lothar R. Pilz ◽  
Deniz Gencer ◽  
Ralf-Dieter Hofheinz ◽  
...  

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