Study results suggest that within acute settings staff perceive that the LCP improves EOL care overall, assists interdisciplinary communication around death and dying, and that is a useful tool to positively influence decision making and care delivery. Further research into aspects of staff communication, diagnosing dying, changing direction of care, and the physical environment is warranted.
A response rate of 32% was obtained. Respondents indicated a relatively high level of confidence regarding their care of the dying, including aspects of communication, teamwork and use of documentation. However, this was often contradicted by their written responses. Written comments were analyzed thematically and six themes identified: the naturalness of dying; the character of care; care relationships; emotional response; knowledge; and the organizational environment. Data analysis provided a rich and informative description of staff perceptions of EOL and issues influencing care.
As a tool the LCP was effective in supporting, guiding, and prompting care delivery. However, challenges remained, particularly regarding environmental factors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.