Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2012
Review Meta AnalysisThe experiences of relatives with the practice of palliative sedation: a systematic review.
Guidelines about palliative sedation typically include recommendations to protect the well-being of relatives. ⋯ Relatives' experiences with palliative sedation are mainly studied from the perspective of proxies, mostly professional caregivers. The majority of relatives seems to be comfortable with the use of palliative sedation; however, they may experience substantial distress by the use of sedation.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2012
Decision making and outcomes of a hospice patient hospitalized with a hip fracture.
Hospice patients are at risk for falls and hip fracture with little clinical information to guide clinical decision making. ⋯ Despite being on hospice services, the majority underwent surgery with improved survival. Sixty-six percent of all individuals on hospice at the time of the fracture died in the first six months, with the majority returning to hospice services.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2012
Dignity in end-of-life care: results of a national survey of U.S. physicians.
Debates persist about the relevance of "dignity" as an ethical concept in U.S. health care, especially in end-of-life care. ⋯ U.S. physicians view the concept of dignity as useful. Those views are associated with their judgments about common end-of-life scenarios in which dignity concepts may be relevant.
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Cancer patients experience a great number of distressing physical and psychological symptoms. In Lebanon, there are no available data on symptom prevalence and symptom management in adults with cancer. ⋯ Although this sample reported a fair QoL and social functioning, many symptoms were highly prevalent and inadequately treated. Symptoms were found to negatively affect QoL and functioning. Based on these results, providing adequate symptom management and social support to Lebanese cancer patients is highly recommended.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2012
Religious beliefs and practices in end-stage renal disease: implications for clinicians.
Several components of palliative care are particularly applicable in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), including the spiritual domain. ⋯ These findings offer insights into chaplains' roles in the ESRD setting and the issues that they and other palliative care team members can anticipate and address in patient support and decision making. The results also support recent work to develop methodologies for research on religious and spiritual issues in medical settings.