Palliative & supportive care
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Caring for patients with cancer can be taxing for front-line health care providers. The growing intensity of treatment protocols, in conjunction with staff shortages, reduced hospital stays, and broader pressures on the health care system may exacerbate these challenges, leading to increased risk for burnout. This article reviews the research literature regarding the prevalence of burnout and psychosocial distress among oncology providers, examines multifactorial occupational and personal determinants of risk, and considers intervention strategies to enhance resilience. ⋯ Burnout and distress affect a significant proportion of oncology staff. There is a need for additional conceptually based, longitudinal, multivariate studies regarding burnout and its associated risk factors and consequences.
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Palliat Support Care · Mar 2006
Collective soul: the spirituality of an interdisciplinary palliative care team.
Although spirituality as it relates to patients is gaining increasing attention, less is known about how health care professionals (HCP) experience spirituality personally or collectively in the workplace. This study explores the collective spirituality of an interdisciplinary palliative care team, by studying how individuals felt about their own spirituality, whether there was a shared sense of a team spirituality, how spirituality related to the care the team provided to patients and whether they felt that they provided spiritual care. ⋯ This was the first known study that focused specifically on the exploration of a collective spirituality. The culture of palliative care seems to foster spiritual reflection among health care professionals both as individuals and as a whole. While spirituality was difficult to describe, it was a shared experience often tangibly present in the provision of care on all levels.
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Palliat Support Care · Mar 2006
Psychological morbidity and quality of life in women with advanced breast cancer: a cross-sectional survey.
Our purpose was to determine the frequency of psychiatric morbidity and to assess the quality of life of women with advanced breast cancer. ⋯ Women with advanced breast cancer have high rates of psychiatric and psychological disturbance. Quality of life is substantially affected. Clinicians need to be vigilant in monitoring psychological adjustment as part of a comprehensive biopsychosocial approach.