British journal of community nursing
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Breathlessness is one of the commonest symptoms experienced by people receiving palliative care. However, misunderstanding of the nature of palliative care may hinder assessment, management and evaluation of care and may contribute to the fear associated with living with breathlessness in the community. ⋯ Pharmacological interventions have their place, but the focus of nursing care should be on systematic holistic assessment. Using this, nurses should adopt a proactive role in supporting and helping patients to adapt to change by maximizing coping strategies.
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Br J Community Nurs · Sep 2005
Review Comparative StudyHyoscine vs glycopyrronium for drying respiratory secretions in dying patients.
The 'death rattle' is a common symptom among dying people, and causes a great deal of anxiety and upset to relatives and carers, including nurses. A mini-review was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of two drugs--hyoscine hydrobromide and glycopyrronium--in drying up respiratory secretions in terminally ill patients. Searches were made of the Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, Cinahl and Pharmline. ⋯ One paper demonstrated that hyoscine hydrobromide was the more effective drug; the other favoured glycopyrronium. There is no clear evidence to support the choice of one drug over the other, based on the clinical outcome selected for this review. Although clinical trials are difficult to conduct in this vulnerable patient group, more research is needed to facilitate the best management of this distressing symptom and allow clinical guidelines to be produced.