J Hosp Palliat Nurs
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J Hosp Palliat Nurs · Dec 2014
The Relationship of Patient Population and Nurses Certification Status on Nurses' Practices in Preparing Families for the End of Life.
While nurses usually prepare family for the patients' final days, little is known about how this is done. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' beliefs and practices concerning family preparation for dying, focusing on strategies, tailoring, timing and content of preparation. Nurses' preparatory practices were compared by patient population (hospice or palliative care) and the nurses' certification status. ⋯ Tailoring differed based on certification status. This information can be compared to what is known about family preparatory needs to develop preparatory interventions that are tailored to patient and family characteristics. Revisiting the similarities and differences in the practice of nurses in hospice and palliative care is important as the specialty continues to mature to assure that adequate education and proper criteria for certification are being provided for all hospice and palliative care nurses.
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J Hosp Palliat Nurs · Jul 2014
"A True Human Interaction": Comparison of Family Caregiver and Hospice Nurse Perspectives On Needs of Family Hospice Caregivers.
Home hospice providers are concerned with family caregiver perceptions about the quality of care and support offered. More research is needed to understand experiences of family caregivers and what "support" means to these family members. ⋯ Caregivers and nurses cited similar elements necessary for successful relationships between caregivers and the hospice team, but how they described them differed and these differences shape perceptions of support. Greater understanding of similarities and differences could inform and improve training and education programs for hospice teams.
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J Hosp Palliat Nurs · Dec 2013
Satisfaction with pain treatment in older cancer patients: Identifying variants of discrimination, trust, communication, and self-efficacy.
How satisfied a patient is with their medical treatment may influence compliance and adherence to medical regimens. While a number of studies have examined patient satisfaction among younger populations, few have determined the impact social factors have on satisfaction with pain treatment among older adults. This study aimed to determine the influence discrimination, trust, communication, and other health characteristics have on satisfaction with pain treatment among older adults receiving outpatient services from a comprehensive cancer center. ⋯ However, none of the mediating effects were significant. It must be recognized that patient satisfaction is contingent upon a myriad of social factors that are not exclusive, but rather coexisting determinants of health. Particularly among the elderly, perceived discrimination and incidences of poor communication may be significant influences on health and the lived day-to-day experiences of this adult population.
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J Hosp Palliat Nurs · Jul 2012
A Descriptive, Retrospective Study of After-hours Calls in Hospice and Palliative Care.
A fixed coding scheme was used to code a de-identified after-hours triage phone log of all calls between July 2005 and June 2006 (n=4,434) from a Pennsylvania hospice and palliative care services organization. Descriptive statistics were used to identify call timing pattern, call reasons, and predominant nursing interventions. ⋯ A better understanding of when and why patients and their family caregivers utilize after-hours hospice triage services can assist in the design of future proactive interventions to improve care, and enhance training for new and existing hospice triage nurses.
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A distressing complication for patients and families, gross hematuria at the end of life challenges hospice and palliative care clinicians to utilize skills in medical and nursing management, communication and clarification of patient goals, and relief of symptom burden. Massive hemorrhage in the genitourinary tract can radically alter the terminal trajectory for patients and necessitate intensive interventions aimed at promoting comfort. Here, a case of gross hematuria in an adult hospice patient serves to broaching decision-making challenges and management strategies.