Nurses' Experiences of Caring for People at the End of Life in the Emergency Department
a qualitative study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48492/servir0208.33827Keywords:
emergency service, hospital, nurses, end of life, palliative care, terminal assistanceAbstract
Introduction: The access to the Emergency Service for people end-of-life (PEL) with palliative care needs is a reality.
Objective: To analyze the experiences of nurses in caring for PEL, in the Emergency Service.
Methods: A qualitative study, based on a semi-structured interview with a focus group of seven nurses from a Local Health Unit in the North of Portugal.
Results: To nurses, a PEL needing palliative care is the one who has an incurable disease and a short time to live. They consider that palliative care promotes patient comfort and well-being, family well-being and dignity. Regarding the feelings/emotions experienced with these patients, they express both negative feelings (frustration) and negative emotions (sadness, anger and revolt). The main interventions directed to a PEL that they highlight fall within the palliative paradigm. According to nurses, the focus on adopting therapeutic measures of a curative and non-palliative nature is a result of the formatting/training received and the result of pressure from the family. Nurses list out as main difficulties the work overload, scarcity of resources and lack of institutional support. They highlight, as main improvement strategies, the investment in multidisciplinary teams, improvement of the physical structure and reorganization of care.
Conclusion: The results point to a range of difficulties associated with nurses' experiences in caring for PEL.
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