Friday, October 9, 2015

Palliative Care Growing, but Not for All Patients

While palliative care is increasing in hospitals generally, access to programs is not consistent throughout the United States, according to a new study published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Patients’ access to palliative care programs varies across geographic regions and also depends on factors such as hospital size and tax status, researchers write in "The Growth of Palliative Care in U.S. Hospitals: A Status Report."

While 90 percent of hospitals across the country with 300 beds or more have palliative care programs, only 56 percent of smaller hospitals offer these services. Additionally, for-profit hospitals are less likely than not-for-profit or public hospitals to have palliative care programs.

The study is available free of charge on the Journal of Palliative Medicine website until November 1, 2015.

An INQRI study, "Nursing's Specific Contributions to Quality Palliative Care within the Context of Interdisciplinary Intensive Care Practice," explored the relationships between quality palliative nursing care delivered in intensive care units and patient and family outcomes. The study also explored how to measure and to improve these outcomes. This interdisciplinary team was led by Lissi Hansen and Richard Mularski.

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