The American journal of hospice & palliative care
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2002
You need not make the journey alone: overcoming impediments to providing palliative care in a public urban teaching hospital.
The majority of dying patients continue to receive care in acute, tertiary settings. This has generated the development of hospital-based palliative care (HBPC). The Symptom Management and Palliative Care Program (SMPCP) at LAC+USC Medical Center provides HBPC. ⋯ Results indicated that the SMPCP achieved a high rate of quality end-point attainment when impediments were not present. The most significant impediments resulted from behaviors by primary physicians. The SMPCP's ability to overcome barrier behaviors improved the rate of end-point attainment, confirming the importance of palliative care at the end of life.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2002
Teaching end-of-life issues: current status in United Kingdom and United States medical schools.
Our objective was to determine how broadly end-of-life issues are represented in the undergraduate medical school curricula of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). Mailed surveys yielded response rates of 100 percent in the UK and 92 percent in the US. ⋯ Hospice involvement was found in 96 percent of UK medical schools but in only 50 percent of US schools. Overall, the UK appears to provide more exposure to end-of-life issues in medical schools, although the US appears to be moving in that direction.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2002
Case ReportsBurnout and compassion fatigue among hospice caregivers.
Burnout is a word currently used in discussions about the present nursing shortage. Hospice staff, because of their work with the terminally ill, are considered a high-risk group for burnout. Too frequently, the reason behind the decision to leave or take a sabbatical from hospice work is that the staff member reached the limits of his or her capacity to care and "couldn't take it any more." It is, therefore, important to discuss the concept of burnout and how it can affect hospice staff as well as the primary caregivers for hospice patients to ascertain the reasons behind it and take steps to lessen caregiver stress.