Who Helen Box, Randi Steine, Dr Sarah Moberley
Affiliation: Calvary Mater Hospital Newcastle
Conference Category: Evidence-Based Practice – Quality, safety and innovation
Presentation format: poster presentation (in-progress research proposal)
Introduction/Background/Significance
Palliative care nurses frequently observe that nursing documentation is onerous and takes them away from their patients. Moreover, despite the time taken to complete it, the utility of such documentation is uncertain.
Nevertheless, palliative care requires a compelling approach to documentation to effectively capture and easily share the individualised needs and priorities of a patient and their family, to honour and preserve the integrity of the person, when their time is short. Inherently these patients face a diminishing ability to communicate and to self-care, placing them at risk of complications. Moreover, such patients risk receiving care that simply does not reflect their preferences and wishes. Bedside participation of families can compensate for the deficit in documentation, however this is not always possible or practical.
Aims/Objectives/Hypothesis/Goals or Problem
This poster presentation will present a literature review of nursing documentation in adult palliative nursing care by exploring focus questions. Chiefly, what is best practice for capturing the holistic, physical, psychosocial and spiritual priorities for a patient with life-limiting illness, including partnering with loved ones? Secondarily, what is the role of the nursing care plan?
Approach/Methods/Procedure
A review of the current evidence base, as provided by international, English language, peer-reviewed literature, practice guidelines and peak body policy, using keyword searches of “adult palliative care”; “nursing documentation”; “nursing care planning”, “quality and safety”. Studies will be evaluated with CASP tools and presented using PRISMA.
Results/Findings/Outcomes
This comprehensive review of the literature may expose gaps in the knowledge base that could provide the impetus for a future mixed methods study, including a chart audit, time-in-motion analysis and user surveys.
Discussion/Implications for practice
Ultimately such research could support the redesign of artefacts, technology and practice, based on user-centred principles and patient-carer-clinician-management collaboration.
Conclusion
This poster presentation will describe the evidence base for the role of nursing documentation in planning individualised nursing care for the palliative care inpatient.
Funding acknowledgement: none