Patients' last days of COPD can be characterized by depression, anxiety, pain, and dyspnea. Clinicians must be alert to patient discomfort and offer appropriate palliative care and reassurance.
Patients’ last days of COPD can be characterized by depression, anxiety, pain, and dyspnea. Clinicians must be alert to patient discomfort and offer appropriate palliative care and reassurance.
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An analysis of millions of Medicare records has laid the groundwork for improving end-of-life care by demonstrating that nearly all older Americans follow one of nine trajectories in their last three years of life.
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A quality improvement initiative increased the capture of patient-reported outcomes related to music therapy, which has been shown to aid chronic and critical care patients.
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A study outlines how researchers at a large healthcare system integrated music therapy program, which has shown benefits for lung disease patients and pallative care.
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For COPD patients receiving palliative care, oxygen therapy is provided to relieve hypoxia and dyspnea, improve quality of life, improve the patient’s ability to ambulate and/or exercise, and improve sleep by relieving nocturnal desaturations.
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An analysis found that palliative care for surgical patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation reduced hospital length of stay by 2-4 days.
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An article reports that the use of palliative care (+9.0%) and oxygen therapy (+8.9%) are on the rise in COPD patients.
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Veterans diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer who had at least one palliative care encounter after their diagnosis were 82% less likely to die by suicide.
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The importance of controlling symptoms such as breathlessness and pain during the final days of COPD can improve the quality of life, or perhaps the quality of death.
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Additional support by palliative care specialists failed to improve anxiety and depression symptoms in caregivers of patients with chronic critical illness.
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When physiological changes in a patient dictate a true need for oxygen, experts agree that the therapy should be administered, but many factors must be considered, including need, disease type, and potential alternative therapies.
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Medical professionals are reconsidering the efficacy of oxygen therapy for some end-of-life patients.
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While one study finds clinicians fall short in discussing end-of-life care with COPD patients, another study finds that a computer-based decision aid designed to educate patients about end-of-life decisions may make those discussions easier.
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One respiratory therapist discusses the use of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation for Do-Not-Resuscitate/Do-Not-Intubate (DNR/DNI) patients.
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People in extreme pain deserve all of the palliative care it takes to give them surcease from their suffering.
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