Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2001
Drugs and syringe drivers: a survey of adult specialist palliative care practice in the United Kingdom and Eire.
Subcutaneous delivery of drugs using a syringe driver is common practice within specialist palliative care units. There is, however, little documented information regarding clinical practice. A survey performed in 1992 reported that at least 28 drugs were used in combination with others in a single syringe driver. ⋯ The most common combinations were diamorphine and midazolam (37%), diamorphine and levomepromazine (35%), diamorphine and haloperidol (33%), and diamorphine and cyclizine (31%). In conclusion, there is much in common with regard to the way in which drugs are delivered in syringe drivers. However, a wide variety of drugs and drug combinations are still in use.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2001
The meaning of the lived experience of hope in patients with cancer in palliative home care.
The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of the lived experience of hope in patients with cancer in palliative home care. Narrative interviews with 11 patients were interpreted using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method, inspired by Ricoeur. ⋯ The interviewees told of the hope of living as normally as possible and of the experience of confirmative relationships as dimensions of their lived experience of hope. These findings show that hope is a dynamic experience, important to both a meaningful life and a dignified death, for those patients suffering from incurable cancer.