Dear Colleague,

I was fortunate to have taken an entire course on death and dying during nursing school. It was an elective and I chose it knowing that I would be working in a critical care unit after graduation. A big focus of this course was communication, which plays a huge role in end-of-life decision making and care.

In the article Life Support Interventions at the End of Life from the American Journal of Nursing, the author shares the following quote from the playwright George Bernard Shaw: "The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred." The author of the article then goes on to say that it is “especially important in end-of-life conversations not to let an illusion become a reality.”

Life-Support Interventions at the End of Life: Unintended Consequences The Inner Life at the End of Life Patients' and Surrogates' Decision-Making Characteristics: Withdrawing, Withholding, and Continuing Life-Sustaining Treatments Incorporating Spiritual Beliefs Into End-of-Life Care Nurses' Involvement in End-of-life Decisions Beyond Bad News: Communication Skills of Nurses in Palliative Care Hindu End of Life Death, Dying, Suffering, and Karma

Take some time to reflect on your own experiences communicating with patients and family members about end-of-life issues. For future discussions, keep in mind the value of establishing trust, providing reassurance, gathering and sharing information, and providing resources and support. Look to the articles in our More Resources collection for more helpful information and guidance.

Lisa Bonsall, MSN, RN, CRNP
Clinical Editor

Browse our newest resource collection, Focus On: COPD. Here you'll find our best resources on COPD, its treatment, pulmonary rehabilitation, and related articles and patient education tools. Also, in this collection are PowerPoint slides about lung volume reduction surgery and Take5: Assessing a patient with COPD.

National Nurses Week is coming up and we are excited to celebrate and recognize all of you! We’ve planned to honor you with “daily deals,” that is, access to different content or coupons each day from May 6th to May 12th. You’ll want to check our National Nurses Week page each day to see what we have planned!

Join the conversation! Here’s what happening on NursingCenter's In the Round:

• Editorial round-up 3
• Read, read, read!
• …and some nice comments on At home in a hospital

What are the three crucial diagnostic steps for the Diagnosis and Management of Primary Aldosteronism? Find this answer and more, including current treatment recommendations.
The Nurse Practitioner: The American Journal of Primary Health Care Share:
(2.8 contact hours)

Inaccurate or incomplete nursing documentation can mean serious trouble for your patients. It can also mean serious trouble for you if you're ever involved in a lawsuit. Learn strategies for documenting completely, accurately, and concisely by reading Stay Out Of Court with Proper Documentation.
Nursing2011 Share:
(2 contact hours)

Review our Recommended CE list on feeding patients with dementia, Healthcare Reform: 1 year later, when anxiety leads to absence from work...