Abstract
The care patients receive at the end of life in the intensive care unit (ICU) is highly dependent on the ICU nurse’s
knowledge, skill, and comfort level in caring for the dying patient and the patient’s family. However, formal nursing
education supports the acute care culture with little or no curriculum offered on end-of-life care. A search for national
standards and best practices and participating in the July 2010 End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Train
the Trainer conference led to a needs assessment on how best to educate nurses on quality end of life care in the ICU
setting. By identifying the nursing education and skills needed for quality end-of-life care in the ICU on the basis of best
practices and national standards, ICU nurses can be empowered to provide optimal end-of-life care. Staff education and
development is a key strategy for implementing evidenced-based end-of-life care in the ICU setting. Investing in ELNEC
training, using available tools such as the IPAL-ICU screening tool to identify unmet palliative needs, training end-of-life
resource nurses for specific hospital units, and offering education for hospital staff can begin to raise awareness regarding
end-of-life care and change the existing culture. Developing an evidenced-based order set to treat symptoms of the dying
patient can help to ensure that such patients’ symptoms are well managed. A willingness to take information about the end
of life to the community, such as a partnership with a local nursing school, is a key strategy for filling the gaps in
knowledge in end of life care.
AbstractThe care patients receive at the end of life in the intensive care unit (ICU) is highly dependent on the ICU nurse’sknowledge, skill, and comfort level in caring for the dying patient and the patient’s family. However, formal nursingeducation supports the acute care culture with little or no curriculum offered on end-of-life care. A search for nationalstandards and best practices and participating in the July 2010 End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Trainthe Trainer conference led to a needs assessment on how best to educate nurses on quality end of life care in the ICUsetting. By identifying the nursing education and skills needed for quality end-of-life care in the ICU on the basis of bestpractices and national standards, ICU nurses can be empowered to provide optimal end-of-life care. Staff education anddevelopment is a key strategy for implementing evidenced-based end-of-life care in the ICU setting. Investing in ELNECtraining, using available tools such as the IPAL-ICU screening tool to identify unmet palliative needs, training end-of-liferesource nurses for specific hospital units, and offering education for hospital staff can begin to raise awareness regardingend-of-life care and change the existing culture. Developing an evidenced-based order set to treat symptoms of the dyingpatient can help to ensure that such patients’ symptoms are well managed. A willingness to take information about the endof life to the community, such as a partnership with a local nursing school, is a key strategy for filling the gaps inknowledge in end of life care.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
