| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
The last 48 hours of life in long-term care
— a focused chart audit | | Author(s) | Pippa Hall, Cori Schroder, Lynda Weaver |
| Journal title | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 50, no 3, March 2002 |
| Pages | pp 501-506 |
| Keywords | Pain ; Terminal care ; Nursing homes ; Evaluation ; Canada. |
| Annotation | As a component of palliative care education course development, the University of Ottawa Institute of Palliative Care wished to assess end-of-life care for patients in long-term care (LTC) settings to develop an educational strategy for physicians. A chart audit for 185 patients found that many were cognitively impaired. Cancer was the final diagnosis in 14% of cases. Respiratory symptoms were the most prevalent symptom, with dsypnoea being first and noisy breathing third. Pain was second, with a prevalence similar to that found in cancer patients. Management of symptoms was variable: whilst 99% were treated for pain, dyspnoea was not treated in 23% of the cancer patients. Nurses played a crucial role in the care of dying residents through their documentation and communication of end-of-life issues. Appropriate palliative care education can provide knowledge and skills to all health professionals, including doctors, and assist them in the control of symptoms and improvement of patients' end-of-life quality of life. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020520215 A |
| Classmark | CT7: LV: LHB: 4C: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|