Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2013
Evaluating palliative care ward staffing using bed occupancy, patient dependency, staff activity, service quality and cost data.
Palliative care staffing has remained unchallenged for decades while service provision has changed markedly, bringing new workforce demands. There is little evidence to inform hospice workforce structures, which strive to deliver the highest-quality holistic care. ⋯ This dataset provides evidence-based recommendations to inform palliative care nursing workforce modelling, including deciding future nursing workforce size and mix based on rising workloads. The new dataset is suitable for use in UK hospice wards and may be appropriate for future international use.
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2013
Issues in prognostication for hospital specialist palliative care doctors and nurses: a qualitative inquiry.
Patients with advanced life-limiting diseases have high information needs concerning prognosis yet discussions between patients and healthcare professionals are either avoided or inaccurate due to over-optimism. Available prognostic models are problematic. Literature indicates that hospital specialist palliative care professionals are frequently asked to prognosticate, although their experience of prognostication is unknown. Identifying this experience will support the development of prognosis training for hospital specialist palliative care professionals. ⋯ Findings highlight lack of evidence to support practice, and identify the complexity and emotional labour involved in prognostication by hospital specialist palliative care team members, and are used to discuss recommendations for further research and practice.
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2013
Review Meta AnalysisSocial-cultural factors in end-of-life care in Belgium: a scoping of the research literature.
As end-of-life (EoL) care expands across Europe and the world, service developments are increasingly studied. The sociocultural context in which such changes take place, however, is often neglected in research. ⋯ Various sociocultural factors influence the provision of EoL care in Belgium. This country provides a unique opportunity to witness how euthanasia is put into practice when legalized, in a context where palliative care is also highly developed and where many health care institutions have Catholic affiliation, providing an important example to others. Attention to how the sociocultural context affects EoL care adds to the current evidence base of service provision, which is essential in the further development of EoL care.