Palliative & supportive care
-
Palliat Support Care · Jun 2006
Development of a spiritual pain assessment sheet for terminal cancer patients: targeting terminal cancer patients admitted to palliative care units in Japan.
This research explores the potential benefit of a spiritual pain assessment sheet to clinical practice. With spiritual pain defined as "pain caused by extinction of the being and meaning of the self," the spiritual pain assessment sheet was developed by Hisayuki Murata from his conceptual framework reflecting the three dimensions of a human being as a being founded on temporality, a being in relationship, and a being with autonomy. The assessment sheet was developed from reviews of the literature and examinations from a philosophical perspective on the structure of spiritual pain. ⋯ The research results indicate that the spiritual pain assessment sheet provided an appropriate assessment of spiritual pain among terminal cancer patients, showing that such a sheet could be used as an assessment tool in the future.
-
Palliat Support Care · Jun 2006
Legal and policy lessons from the Schiavo case: is our right to choose the medical care we want seriously at risk?
The article explores the individual patient's right to refuse, withdraw, or insist on medical treatment where there is conflict over these issues involving health care personnel or institutions, family members, legal requirements, or third parties concerned with public policy or religious/ideological/political interests. Issues of physician assistance in dying and medical futility are considered. The basis and the current legal status of these rights is examined, and it is concluded that threats to the autonomy of patients, to the privacy of the doctor/patient relationship, and to the quality of medical care should be taken seriously by individuals, medical practitioners, and others concerned with developing and maintaining reasonable, effective, and ethical health care policy.
-
Palliat Support Care · Jun 2006
Editorial Biography Historical ArticleShattering the consensus on end-of-life care: was the Schiavo case palliative medicine's Humpty Dumpty?
-
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.
-
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.