Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
-
Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Symptom experience of dying long-term care residents.
To describe the end-of-life symptoms of nursing home (NH) and residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) residents, compare staff and family symptom ratings, and compare how staff assess pain and dyspnea for cognitively impaired and cognitively intact residents. ⋯ In NHs and RC/AL, dying residents have high rates of physical symptoms and need for more-effective palliation of symptoms near the end of life.