Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialRandomized controlled trial of standardized education and telemonitoring for pain in outpatients with advanced solid tumors.
Previous studies have not defined the role of telemonitoring with educational tools in outpatients with advanced cancers. We tested the effectiveness of standardized education and telemonitoring for improving pain, distress, anxiety, depression, quality of life (QoL), and performance in outpatients with advanced cancers. ⋯ Standardized pain education using nursing specialists is an efficient way to improve not only pain itself but also anxiety, depression, performance, and QoL. The addition of telemonitoring helps to improve pain management in the outpatient setting.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2013
Palliative care needs, symptoms, and treatment intensity along the disease trajectory in medical oncology outpatients: a retrospective chart review.
Early integration of palliative care into cancer disease management is beneficial for patients with advanced tumors. However, little is known about the association of palliative care interventions with symptom burden and treatment aggressiveness at the end of life (EoL). ⋯ Most cancer patients receive aggressive EoL care interfering with quality of life. Despite limitations by small sample size and missing data, the results suggest that palliative care utilization is associated with reduced symptom burden and intensity of treatment at the EoL. Timely discussion of EoL issues may reduce the number of unnecessary interventions and facilitate referral to the PCU.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2013
International palliative care experts' view on phenomena indicating the last hours and days of life.
Providing the highest quality care for dying patients should be a core clinical proficiency and an integral part of comprehensive management, as fundamental as diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to provide expert consensus on phenomena for identification and prediction of the last hours or days of a patient's life. This study is part of the OPCARE9 project, funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme. ⋯ Experts from different professional backgrounds identified a set of categories describing a structure within which clinical phenomena can be clinically assessed, in order to more accurately predict whether someone will die within the next days or hours. However, these phenomena need further specification for clinical use.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2013
The perceptions and experiences of nurses and bereaved families towards bereavement care in an oncology unit.
Existing bereavement literature focuses on the care provided in palliative care units or community settings. However, nurses in oncology units are in a unique position to provide bereavement care, which is care extended to the families after the death of cancer patients. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of bereavement care among nurses and bereaved family members in an oncology unit in Hong Kong. ⋯ The findings revealed that there is room for improvement in current bereavement care. Family members were committed to patient care and they expressed their need for more involvement in the patient care, which could result in a positive impact on their grief and loss experience. Nurses were committed to quality care, and they expressed their need for more training on knowledge, skills and attitudes to improve their readiness and competencies in the provision of bereavement care.