International journal of palliative nursing
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There is currently great interest and activity around the development of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) policies in health and social care. This paper describes how South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA) in the UK underwent a process of agreeing a competency framework and devising an accompanying training course to enable senior nurses to be decision makers and signatories for DNACPR forms. The competencies that were agreed are presented, along with an exploration of the benefits of nurses completing DNACPR forms, including a costing of apparent financial benefits. With the restructuring of SHAs on the horizon it is important to share practice development in order to avoid duplication of effort.
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The death of a child is a traumatic family life event. Although parental bereavement has received substantial attention, little research has focused on the grief experiences of bereaved grandparents. The aims of this Irish national study were to identify and describe the bereavement experiences of grandparents following the death of their grandchild and to explore their needs and supports throughout. ⋯ The present paper discusses the remaining two findings: factors that facilitate and factors that inhibit the resolution of the cumulative pain. Several factors were perceived by the bereaved grandparents as being either helpful or unhelpful in easing the pain of their grief. Among these were acknowledgment of the deceased grandchild and the grandparents themselves, the relationship with the bereaved son or daughter, family dynamics, and support mechanisms.
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To explore district nurses' beliefs regarding referral of a patient receiving palliative care for physiotherapy. ⋯ These findings help to explain why so few patients receiving palliative care access rehabilitation services. To ensure that patients have appropriate access to palliative rehabilitation, there needs to be consideration of how the identified barriers can be overcome.