International journal of palliative nursing
-
Early identification of pain and other problems is an important aspect of palliative care. Although nurses have an important role in palliative care, little is known about nurses' perceptions of proactive palliative care. ⋯ Nurses' involvement in proactive palliative care is important in supporting patients' palliative care management. Ongoing education, focused on multidisciplinary communication and cooperation, professional development, and empowerment of nurses, remains of utmost importance.
-
To explore the lived experience of caring and care planning for a child with a life-limiting condition (LLC). ⋯ The findings are limited by the sample characteristics, but they provide insight for current policy and practice initiatives. The key worker needs to be mindful of historical care arrangements and be prepared to step into the family 'team' arrangements.
-
Few ethnic minorities access specialist palliative care (SPC) services when caring for a dying relative at home. ⋯ There is a need for health professionals to reach out to this population to increase awareness of and trust in the services that are available to support care at the end of life. However, an unwillingness to accept assistance may persist in some cases.
-
UNICEF and the International Children's Palliative Care Network undertook a joint analysis in three sub-Saharan countries-Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya-to estimate the palliative care need among their children and to explore these countries' capacities to deliver children's palliative care (CPC). This report concerns the findings from South Africa. The study adopted a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data obtained from primary and secondary sources. ⋯ Less than 5% of the children needing care in South Africa are receiving it, with those receiving it being closer to the end of life. Barriers to the delivery of CPC include fear of opioid use, lack of education on CPC, lack of integration into the primary care system, lack of policies on CPC, and lack of community and health professional awareness of CPC needs and services. Estimating the need for CPC is a critical step in meeting the needs of children with life-threatening conditions and provides a sound platform to advocate for closure of the unacceptably wide gaps in coverage.
-
Breakthrough pain is common in patients with cancer and is a significant cause of morbidity in this group of patients. Breakthrough pain is a heterogeneous condition, and so its management needs to be individualised. This paper describes the management of breakthrough pain and, specifically, the recently published guidelines of the European Oncology Nursing Society.