Credit: NCI and
Mathews Media Group
A new study suggests many patients in cancer centers do not experience a dignified death.
Study investigators surveyed physicians and nurses in 16 hospitals belonging to 10 cancer centers in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The results revealed a need for cancer centers to invest more in palliative care services, adequate rooms for dying patients, staff training in end-of-life care, and advance-care-planning standards.
Karin Jors, of the University Medical Center Freiburg, and her colleagues reported these findings in Cancer.
Previous research has shown that hospitals are often ill-prepared to provide care for dying patients.
To investigate whether the circumstances for dying on cancer center wards allow for a dignified death, Jors and her colleagues surveyed physicians and nurses in German cancer centers.
Among 1131 survey respondents, 57% believed that patients could die with dignity on their ward.
Half of the surveyed staff members indicated that they rarely have enough time to care for dying patients, and 55% found the rooms available for dying patients unsatisfactory.
Only 19% of respondents felt they had been well-prepared to care for dying patients, and only 6% of physicians felt that way.
On the other hand, physicians perceived the circumstances for dying patients much more positively than nurses, especially regarding communication and life-prolonging measures.
While 72% of physicians reported that patients can usually die a dignified death on their ward, only 52% of nurses shared this opinion.
Palliative care staff reported much better conditions for dying patients than staff from other wards, with 95% of palliative care staff indicating that patients die with dignity on their wards.
“In our aging society, it is predicted that the number of hospital deaths will continue to rise in the coming years, and many of these deaths will be attributable to cancer,” Jors said.
“For this reason, it is particularly important that cancer centers strive to create a comfortable, dignified experience for dying patients and their families. Above all, this requires that staff members are provided with the adequate resources to care for these patients.”
The investigators therefore encourage the integration of palliative care into standard oncology care, beginning as early as diagnosis. They also believe physicians and nurses would benefit from increased education and training in end-of-life care.
