British journal of community nursing
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Br J Community Nurs · Jan 2015
The Flexible Care Service: a third-sector service for older people with mental health needs.
Demographic patterns indicate that by 2030, one in five people in England will be over 65. Together with the fact that as people age they are more likely to suffer from comorbidities, it is of paramount importance that local services are designed to meet the needs of individual older people. ⋯ Through the use of client case studies, the Department of Health's 'six Cs' (care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment) are used as a framework to demonstrate how a third-sector service such as Flexible Care can offer a person-centred approach in order to meet the diverse needs of individual clients. The framework is also used to demonstrate the high level of skills needed by flexible carers in order to provide this support.
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Br J Community Nurs · Jan 2015
Role of the community matron in advance care planning and 'do not attempt CPR' decision-making: a qualitative study.
The community matron (CM) is often the key worker caring for patients with chronic, life-limiting, long-term conditions, but these patients are not always recognised as palliative cases. This study explored the experiences of CMs with regard to advance care planning (ACP) and 'do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation' (DNACPR) decision-making to understand whether or not they felt adequately prepared for this aspect of their role, and why. Qualitative data were generated from six CMs using a broad interpretive phenomenological approach. ⋯ The study found that although participants faced complex ethical situations around ACP and DNACPR almost on a daily basis, none had received any formal training despite the emphasis on training in national and local guidelines. Participants often struggled to get their patients accepted on to the Gold Standards Framework. The research found variability and complexity of cases to be the main barriers to clear identification of the palliative phase.
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Common symptoms at the end of life include pain, breathlessness, anxiety, respiratory secretions and nausea. National end-of-life care strategies advocate anticipatory prescribing for timely management of these symptoms to enhance patient care by preventing unnecessary distress. This study investigated the extent to which residents in eight Lothian care homes had anticipatory medications prescribed prior to death. ⋯ Only 15% had prescriptions for all four nationally recommended anticipatory medications. Many care home residents do not have the recommended anticipatory medications in place in the last days of life and thus may experience inadequate symptom control. Interventions that increase the availability of anticipatory medicines to manage common symptoms at the end of life for care home residents are required.
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Chyle leaks occur when there is interruption to the lymphatic ducts that transport chyle around the body. The loss of this protein-rich, calorie-rich fluid can cause serious complications including dehydration, malnutrition and immunosuppression. Treatment of chyle leaks depends on the underlying cause, which may be surgical, secondary to malignant invasion or the result of a medical condition. ⋯ Nutritional management options include total bowel rest with parenteral nutrition, enteral feeding with specialized formula, or oral diet with supplementation. At present there is no consensus regarding which approach is superior. In reality, most patients with chyle leaks are managed with a combination or oral and enteral feeding, but further work is needed to clarify the optimum management strategy.