Palliative sedation in Latin America: survey on practices and attitudes

Abstract

The findings of this study support the need to establish clinical guidelines for its utilization and to educate other specialists on end-of-life care approaches, and the need to develop PC programs in acute care hospitals in Latin America.

Level of knowledge, emotional impact and perception about the role of nursing professionals concerning palliative sedation

“…Although its administration is more common every day and there are several guidelines available, it is still a subject of much clinical, legal and ethical debate in different contexts (Abarshi et al., ; Leboul et al., ; Melia, ; Raus et al., ; Verkerk, van Wijlick, Legemaate, & de Graeff, ). Most guidelines on PS and studies regarding its use derive from developed countries (Abarshi et al., ; Schildmann & Schildmann, ) and data regarding guidelines, practices and perceptions of healthcare providers in developing regions (e.g., Latin America) are very scarce (Moyano, Zambrano, Ceballos, Santacruz, & Guerrero, ; Pelluchon, ; Soriano, Lima, Batista, Febles, & Morales, ; Spineli, Kurashima, & De Gutiérrez, ).…”

“…Moyano et al. () conducted a survey to explore practices and attitudes towards PS in 89 health workers from Latin America, including nurses. The results indicated the need to establish clinical guidelines for PS and educate professionals on end‐of‐life care.…”

“…Similar to that, Morita, Miyashita, Kimura, Adachi, and Shima (2004) found that the emotional burden of nurses when participating in the PS process could affect the satisfaction with their work. Moyano et al (2008) conducted a survey to explore practices and attitudes towards PS in 89 health workers from Latin America, including nurses. The results indicated the need to establish clinical guidelines for PS and educate professionals on end-of-life care.…”

Sedation at the end of life

“…In a survey administered to 89 health practitioners from several countries in South America and the Caribbean, it was found that 71% was properly trained in palliative therapy and 94% agreed to use sedation; 53% agreed to use sedation regardless of the patient's life expectancy; and only 1.2% affirmed that they would do it only if the patient's life expectancy was above two weeks. Finally, 68% of respondents affirmed agreed to use sedation based on the opinion of a multidisciplinary team (12).…”

“…It has been found that this kind of symptoms are sometimes more relevant than physical manifestations and account for 13% of patients facing the last stage of their lives (12).…”