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Dying for attention: palliative care in the acute setting
Karen Parish1, Karen Glaetzer, Carol Grbich
1Nursing and Patient Services, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. karen.parish@rgh.sa.gov.au
Summary
End-of-life care in acute hospital wards is suboptimal, lacking essential psychosocial and spiritual support. Enhancing palliative care pathways and providing staff with better tools can improve patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Medical research
- Palliative care
- Healthcare quality improvement
Background:
- Palliative care has developed significantly over 25 years.
- Concerns exist regarding the adequacy of end-of-life care in acute hospital settings.
- Patients may not receive comprehensive palliative care management during their final days.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of end-of-life care provided to patients in acute hospital wards.
- To identify areas for improvement in end-of-life support within a teaching hospital.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of patient medical records.
- Interviews with nursing staff involved in patient care.
- Audit of 20 deceased patients' records from acute care wards.
Main Results:
- Identified strategies to improve end-of-life care, including the Palliative Care Advanced Disease Pathway.
- Significant gaps in assessment and documentation for physical, psychosocial, and spiritual care.
- Opportunities exist to enhance service provision across multiple care dimensions.
Conclusions:
- End-of-life care in the studied acute hospital wards is not ideal.
- Nurses expressed a strong desire for additional tools and support.
- There is potential for future development and improvement in end-of-life care practices at the research site.
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