Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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This study explores the experiences of individuals in early, middle, and late adolescence dying from cancer. Place of death, medications used at end of life (EOL), and discussions prior to death are examined. ⋯ Adolescents have unique developmental needs that should be considered at EOL. Timing of EOL discussions occurred very close to death for a significant number of adolescents, allowing very little time to psychologically prepare for death.
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Support Care Cancer · Jul 2010
Implementation of a pharmacist-initiated pharmaceutical handover for oncology and haematology patients being transferred to critical care units.
An information gap with respect to specific therapies was identified when patients were transferred from the oncology and haematology unit (OHU) to the critical care units. The goal was to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-initiated pharmaceutical handover (PIPH) for patients being transferred from the OHU to the critical care units at a major teaching hospital. ⋯ Clinical pharmacists in the specialty area of oncology and haematology can improve the continuum of care when their patients are transferred to other units. By providing an accurate handover about specific therapies, there is an overall improvement in the prescribing and timely administration of these therapies.
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Support Care Cancer · Jul 2010
Case ReportsA role for intravenous lidocaine in severe cancer-related neuropathic pain at the end-of-life.
Systemic administration of lidocaine has been widely reported to provide effective analgesia in both cancer and non-malignant pain. ⋯ We report the use of intravenous lidocaine in the management of cancer-related neuropathic pain and its pivotal role in restoring function and facilitating end-of-life care at home.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2010
Impact of caregivers' unmet needs for supportive care on quality of terminal cancer care delivered and caregiver's workforce performance.
Family caregivers play an important role in caring for cancer patients, but the impact of caregivers' unmet needs on the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care they deliver and on their workplace performance are less understood. ⋯ Caregivers' unmet needs negatively affected both the quality of EOL care they delivered and their workplace performance. More investment in caregiver support and public policies that meet caregiver needs are needed, and hospice use should be encouraged.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2010
Patients' experience of oxygen therapy and dyspnea: a qualitative study in home palliative care.
Dyspnea is a common and distressing symptom in advanced cancer patients. Our preliminary work shows that in the home palliative care population sampled for this study, the prevalence of dyspnea is 29.5% and of those, 26.2% used oxygen therapy. Previous studies suggested that oxygen therapy can be a burden to patients. ⋯ The advantages of oxygen usage outweighed the disadvantages for this sample of patients in the home palliative setting.