Literature Review in End-of-Life Care

LITERATURE REVIEW ON END-OF-LIFE CARE Ever John N. Laingo, RN, MAN

INTRODUCTION Death, the ultimate outcome of life, “an inevitable, unequivocal, and universal experience” (Eliopoulos, 1993) is at once a fact and a profound mystery. Caring for a dying patient is an essential part of every nurse’s duty, but it is already an established fact that caregivers often have difficulties in dealing with such experience. Nurses look at death as failure and therefore shy away from those dying patients whom they believe they have "failed"(Chiplaskey, 2011). For a long time, nurses were more prepared to deal with the care of a dead body than with the dynamics involved with the dying process (Eliopoulos, 1993). End-of-life care is a critical aspect of nursing responsibility, and nursing educators has been trying to find the most effective approach in preparing a nursing student to care for a dying patient (Mallory, 2001; Beck, 1997). Several studies have been conducted in order to understand the different aspects that govern the nurse’s role in a patient who is on the deathbed (Rittman et al, 1997; Lange, Thom, &

Kline 2008; Bretscher, 2000) yet entering the world of a dying patient is still a challenge among nurses (Rittman, Paige, Rivera, Sutphin, & Godown, 1997). Also, these studies focuses on the aspects of a registered nurse’s experience, but only a handful of articles discuss the problem on the part of student nurses. Caring for a dying client is a challenging experience of a student nurse. It is not only that they don’t have the same length of experience compared to a registered nurse, but also that their knowledge may not be adequate in dealing with these situations. A study by Lange, Thom, and Kline (2008) touched on the relationship between nurses’ view of death and dying and the length of clinical experienced and concluded that those nurses with longer experience perceives death in a more neutral to positive way. Although nursing by itself encompasses caring,

References: Beck, C.T. (1997). "Nursing students ' experiences caring for dying patients. Journal of Nursing Education, 36(9), 40815. Bretscher, M. (2000). Caring for Dying Patients: What is Right?. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 18(1), 233 Cartwright C., Steinberg M., Williams G., Najman J., Williams G. (1997) Issues of death and dying: the perspective of critical care nurses. American Journal of Critical Care, 9(2). Retrieved from http://www.find-healtharticles.com/rec_pub_9362607-issues-death-dyingperspective-critical-care-nurses.htm Chiplaskey, L.M. (2011). End-of-life care: are nurses educationally prepared? Times Publishing, LLC. Retrieved from http://rnjournal.com/journal-of-nursing/end-of-lifecare-are-nurses-educationally-prepared Doorenbos, A Z; Abaquin, C; Perrin, M; Eaton, L; Balabagno, A; Rue, T; Ramos, R (2011). Supporting dignified dying in the Philippines. International Journal on Palliative Nursing, 17(3): 125-130 Economist Intelligence Unit (2010). The quality of death ranking end-of-life care across the world. LIEN Foundation. Eliopoulos, Charlotte (1993). Gerontological nursing (3rd Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company Hebert, K; Moore, H; Rooney, J (2011) The Nurse Advocate in Endof-Life Care Ochsner Journal, 11(4): 325–329. Lange M, Thom B, Kline NE (2008). Assessing nurses ' attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients in a comprehensive cancer center. Oncology Nurses Forum,35(6):955-9. doi: 10.1188/08.ONF.955-959. Mallory, J. (2001). The Impact of Paliative Care Educational Component on Attitudes Towards Care of the Dying in Undergraduate Nursing Students. North Carolina State University. Retrieved March 5, 2010 Ngo-Metzger, Q., Phillips, R. S., & McCarthy, E. P. (2008). Ethnic disparities in hospice use among asian-american and pacific islander patients dying with cancer. Journal of American Geriatric Society, 56(1), 139-144. Nursing Neighborhood (n.d.). The Filipino culture. Retrieved from http://www.nurses-neighborhood.com/filipinoculture.html Rittman, M., Paige, P., Rivera, J., Sutphin, L., Godown, I (1997). Phenomenological study of nurses caring for dying patients. Cancer Nursing, 20(2), 115-119. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/cancernursingonline/Abstract/1997/0 4000/Phenomenological_study_of_nurses_caring_for_dying.6.as px Ross MM; Fisher R; McClean MJ (2000). End-of-life care for seniors: The development of a national guide. Journal Palliative Care; 16(4), p. 47-53. Wayne, M., Robinson, L., and Segal, J (2012). Late stage and end-of-life care. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_disease_dementia_ caring_final_stage.htm WHO (1998). WHO Definition of Palliative Care. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/