This population-based, retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted to study a cohort of decedents who died between January 2004 and December 2005 who were referred to the Regina QuAppelle Palliative Care Services (RQPCS). Demographics, diagnostic information and palliative service utilization were collected and analyzed. <p>The first step of the analysis included interviewing the program director and clinical consultant of the RQPCS. They provided the program vision and philosophy of the RQPCS as well as a comprehensive description of the program, including descriptions of the services offered and the staff of the palliative care team.<p>The second step of the research described in detail the demographics, palliative care service use and diagnostic background of the patients of the RQPCS. The variables of interest were age, gender, marital status, living arrangements, area of residence and diagnosis. Analysis also included determining which services the decedents accessed and how many of the services were used by each decedent. Timing of referrals and location of death were also analyzed. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe categorical variables. Means, median and range were used for continuous variables. <p>The third step of this thesis tested for associations between patient attributes and palliative care services utilization, timing of referral and location of death using chi-square analyses. <p>This research determined each of the patient characteristics under investigation to be associated with palliative care utilization. Similar findings were also evident in the literature. In particular, age, marital status, living arrangements, area of residence and diagnosis appeared to be significantly associated with accessing palliative care services. <p>When analyzing the associations between patient attributes and timing of referrals for the RQPCS, no significant results were found. Previous research indicated strong associations between marital status and diagnosis on the timing of referrals into hospice and palliative care programs.<p>Finally, there were two significant associations found between location of death and patient characteristics (gender and living arrangements). However, no clear conclusion could be reached on whether age, gender, marital status, living arrangement, area of residence or diagnosis had any effect on place of death in previous literature.

This population-based, retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted to study a cohort of decedents who died between January 2004 and December 2005 who were referred to the Regina QuAppelle Palliative Care Services (RQPCS). Demographics, diagnostic information and palliative service utilization were collected and analyzed. <p>The first step of the analysis included interviewing the program director and clinical consultant of the RQPCS. They provided the program vision and philosophy of the RQPCS as well as a comprehensive description of the program, including descriptions of the services offered and the staff of the palliative care team.<p>The second step of the research described in detail the demographics, palliative care service use and diagnostic background of the patients of the RQPCS. The variables of interest were age, gender, marital status, living arrangements, area of residence and diagnosis. Analysis also included determining which services the decedents accessed and how many of the services were used by each decedent. Timing of referrals and location of death were also analyzed. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe categorical variables. Means, median and range were used for continuous variables. <p>The third step of this thesis tested for associations between patient attributes and palliative care services utilization, timing of referral and location of death using chi-square analyses. <p>This research determined each of the patient characteristics under investigation to be associated with palliative care utilization. Similar findings were also evident in the literature. In particular, age, marital status, living arrangements, area of residence and diagnosis appeared to be significantly associated with accessing palliative care services. <p>When analyzing the associations between patient attributes and timing of referrals for the RQPCS, no significant results were found. Previous research indicated strong associations between marital status and diagnosis on the timing of referrals into hospice and palliative care programs.<p>Finally, there were two significant associations found between location of death and patient characteristics (gender and living arrangements). However, no clear conclusion could be reached on whether age, gender, marital status, living arrangement, area of residence or diagnosis had any effect on place of death in previous literature.

<p><em><p>Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva vilken utbildning, kunskap och attityd sjuksköterskor har inom munvård samt hur sjuksköterskor kan främja god munvård hos patienter i palliativ vård. En beskrivande litteraturstudie användes som <em>metod där artiklar söktes i Cinahl och Pubmed (Medline). Där hittades tolv artiklar som sedan formade denna studie. <em>Resultatet visade att många sjuksköterskor ansåg att de hade fått bristfällig utbildning i munvård under sin grundutbildning. Eftersom kunskapsnivån hos många sjuksköteskor var otillfredsställande har det framkommit att både personal och patienter inom den palliativa vården gynnas genom utbildning. Det fanns många negativa attityder kring munvård bland sjuksköterskor. Munvård prioriterades inte heller tillräckligt inom den palliativa vården enligt sjuksköterskor. Däremot ansåg de att det bör prioriteras bättre. Olika program och framtagna arbetsredskap har visat sig kunna underlätta arbetet för sjuksköterskor. Även patientutbildning har bidragit till att skapa en bättre munstatus. <em>Slutsatsen av studien är att det finns brister i utbildning, kunskap och attityder inom munvård bland sjuksköteskor. För att ändra på detta vill sjuksköterskor ha mer utbildning och träning. På så vis kan bättre förutsättningar skapas för sjuksköterskan att främja god munvård för patienter i den palliativa vården. </em></em></em></p></em></p> / <p>The <em>purpose of this literature study was to describe education, knowledge and attitudes among nurses regarding oral health care and in which way nurses can promote proper mouth care among patients within palliative care. A descriptive design was the <em>method chosen, with articles obtained via Cinahl and Pubmed (Medline). Twelve articles were found that subsequently formed this study. The <em>results showed that many nurses considered having recieved insufficient mouth care training during their education. Since the level of knowledge among many nurses was lacking it has been shown that both staff and patients within palliative care benefit from education. There were many negative attitudes about mouth care among nurses. Moreover, it was not prioritized enough within palliative care according to nurses. However, they felt that it should be. Different programs and developed tools have shown to facilitate nurses' work. Patient education has also contributed to a better mouth status. The <em>conclusion of the study is that there are flaws in education, knowledge and attitudes about mouth care among nurses. To change this nurses want more education and training. Thus better condition can be created for nurses to promote proper mouth care for patients within palliative care. </em></em></em></em></p>

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva vilken utbildning, kunskap och attityd sjuksköterskor har inom munvård samt hur sjuksköterskor kan främja god munvård hos patienter i palliativ vård. En beskrivande litteraturstudie användes som metod där artiklar söktes i Cinahl och Pubmed (Medline). Där hittades tolv artiklar som sedan formade denna studie. Resultatet visade att många sjuksköterskor ansåg att de hade fått bristfällig utbildning i munvård under sin grundutbildning. Eftersom kunskapsnivån hos många sjuksköteskor var otillfredsställande har det framkommit att både personal och patienter inom den palliativa vården gynnas genom utbildning. Det fanns många negativa attityder kring munvård bland sjuksköterskor. Munvård prioriterades inte heller tillräckligt inom den palliativa vården enligt sjuksköterskor. Däremot ansåg de att det bör prioriteras bättre. Olika program och framtagna arbetsredskap har visat sig kunna underlätta arbetet för sjuksköterskor. Även patientutbildning har bidragit till att skapa en bättre munstatus. Slutsatsen av studien är att det finns brister i utbildning, kunskap och attityder inom munvård bland sjuksköteskor. För att ändra på detta vill sjuksköterskor ha mer utbildning och träning. På så vis kan bättre förutsättningar skapas för sjuksköterskan att främja god munvård för patienter i den palliativa vården. / The purpose of this literature study was to describe education, knowledge and attitudes among nurses regarding oral health care and in which way nurses can promote proper mouth care among patients within palliative care. A descriptive design was the method chosen, with articles obtained via Cinahl and Pubmed (Medline). Twelve articles were found that subsequently formed this study. The results showed that many nurses considered having recieved insufficient mouth care training during their education. Since the level of knowledge among many nurses was lacking it has been shown that both staff and patients within palliative care benefit from education. There were many negative attitudes about mouth care among nurses. Moreover, it was not prioritized enough within palliative care according to nurses. However, they felt that it should be. Different programs and developed tools have shown to facilitate nurses' work. Patient education has also contributed to a better mouth status. The conclusion of the study is that there are flaws in education, knowledge and attitudes about mouth care among nurses. To change this nurses want more education and training. Thus better condition can be created for nurses to promote proper mouth care for patients within palliative care.

Bakgrund: Palliativ vård ges till patienter i livets slutskede när det inte finns något ytterligare botemedel för personens sjukdom. Vårdformen innebär att patientens livskvalitet och välbefinnande sätts främst. Omvårdnad av patienter med palliativt vårdbehov behöver vara personcentrerad och fokuserad på både fysiska och existentiella behov. I sjukhusmiljö riskerar patienter vid livets slutskede att deras sjukdom kommer före den andliga vården och att stödet de får från sjuksköterskor inte kan möta deras behov. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva erfarenheter av hur patienter med behov av palliativ vård upplever stöd från sjuksköterskor när de vårdas på sjukhus. Metod: Litteraturöversikt baserad på 13 vetenskapliga artiklar. Data analyserades systematisk för att sammanställa resultat. Resultat: Utifrån dataanalysen identifierades tre huvudkategorier: symptomlindring, vikten av delaktighet och vårdens organisation. Dessa innefattar underkategorier och beskriver patienter med palliativt vårdbehovs erfarenheter av stöd från sjuksköterskor på sjukhus. Slutsats: Patienter med palliativt vårdbehov upplevde det stöd de får från sjuksköterskor på sjukhus som negativ påverkad av tidsbrist. Omvårdnad av dessa patienter visade sig inte vara tillräckligt personcentrerad. Patienter påpekar brister i den existentiella vården på sjukhusavdelningar och otillräckligt engagemang hos sjuksköterskor. Patienter betonade att de ändå uppskattade sjuksköterskans roll i deras vård på sjukhus men önskade att de hade mer tid för att vara närvarande och ge mer utrymme för patienters egna uttryckta önskningar / Background: Palliative care is given to patients at the end of life when there is no further cure for the person's illness and means that the patient's quality of life and wellbeing are putting first. Care of palliative patients’ needs to be person-centred and focused on both physical and existential needs. In a hospital environment, patients at the end-of life risk that their illness comes before spiritual care and that the support they receive from registered nurses (RN) will not meet their needs. Aim: The aim is to describe experiences of how patients in need of palliative care experience support from RNs when they are cared for in hospital. Method: Literature review based on 13 scientific articles. Data were systematically analyzed to compile results. Results: Based on the data analysis, three main categories were identified: symptom relief, the importance of participation and organization of care. These include subcategories and describe palliative care patients' experiences of support from RNs in hospitals. Conclusions: Palliative patients experienced the support they receive from RNs in hospitals as negatively affected by the lack of time. End-of-life care was found to be insufficiently person-centered. Patients point out shortcomings in the existential care in hospital wards and insufficient commitment of RNs. Patients emphasized that they still appreciated the RN`s role in their care in hospital but wished they had more time to be present and give more space for patients' self-expression.