Healthcare professionals' values about and experience with facilitating end-of-life care in the adult intensive care unit

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Author(s)
Riegel, Melissa
Randall, Sue
Ranse, Kristen
Buckley, Thomas
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate values and experience with facilitating end-of-life care among intensive care professionals (registered nurses, medical practitioners and social workers) to determine perceived education and support needs. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using a cross-sectional study design, 96 professionals completed a survey on knowledge, preparedness, patient and family preferences, organisational culture, resources, palliative values, emotional support, and care planning in providing end-of-life care. SETTING: General adult intensive care unit at a tertiary referral hospital. RESULTS: Compared to registered nurses, medical ...
View more >OBJECTIVES: To evaluate values and experience with facilitating end-of-life care among intensive care professionals (registered nurses, medical practitioners and social workers) to determine perceived education and support needs. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using a cross-sectional study design, 96 professionals completed a survey on knowledge, preparedness, patient and family preferences, organisational culture, resources, palliative values, emotional support, and care planning in providing end-of-life care. SETTING: General adult intensive care unit at a tertiary referral hospital. RESULTS: Compared to registered nurses, medical practitioners reported lower emotional and instrumental support after a death, including colleagues asking if OK (p = 0.02), lower availability of counselling services (p = 0.01), perceived insufficient time to spend with families (p = 0.01), less in-service education for end-of-life topics (p = 0.002) and symptom management (p = 0.02). Registered nurses reported lower scores related to knowing what to say to the family in end-of-life care scenarios (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Findings inform strategies for practice development to prepare and support healthcare professionals to provide end-of-life care in the intensive care setting. Professionals reporting similar palliative care values and inclusion of patient and family preferences in care planning is an important foundation for planning interprofessional education and support with opportunities for professionals to share experiences and strengths.
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View more >OBJECTIVES: To evaluate values and experience with facilitating end-of-life care among intensive care professionals (registered nurses, medical practitioners and social workers) to determine perceived education and support needs. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using a cross-sectional study design, 96 professionals completed a survey on knowledge, preparedness, patient and family preferences, organisational culture, resources, palliative values, emotional support, and care planning in providing end-of-life care. SETTING: General adult intensive care unit at a tertiary referral hospital. RESULTS: Compared to registered nurses, medical practitioners reported lower emotional and instrumental support after a death, including colleagues asking if OK (p = 0.02), lower availability of counselling services (p = 0.01), perceived insufficient time to spend with families (p = 0.01), less in-service education for end-of-life topics (p = 0.002) and symptom management (p = 0.02). Registered nurses reported lower scores related to knowing what to say to the family in end-of-life care scenarios (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Findings inform strategies for practice development to prepare and support healthcare professionals to provide end-of-life care in the intensive care setting. Professionals reporting similar palliative care values and inclusion of patient and family preferences in care planning is an important foundation for planning interprofessional education and support with opportunities for professionals to share experiences and strengths.
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Journal Title
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advanced online version.
Subject
Nursing
Bereavement
Critical care
End of life
Intensive care units
Needs assessment