If anyone doubts the popularity of palliative care, a recent Google search for the term palliative care provided 2,140,000 results!! So, where does one start? In surveying active practitioners in the field, the following Web sites proved to be most popular and useful in various ways.
Powered by Sigma Theta Tau International, this site is an outcome of the Nursing Leadership Consortium on End-of-Life Care. Here nurses share information with other professionals about initiatives related to improving patient care at the end of life. Nine key elements of palliative nursing are listed, along with additional links and free downloads of additional resources.
The City of Hope Pain/Palliative Care Resource Center disseminates information and resources to assist others in improving the quality of pain management and end-of-life care. It is a central source for a variety of materials, including pain assessment tools, patient education materials, and end-of-life resources. The index of materials for the 21 categories is printable.
Growth House, Inc. provides this international gateway to resources for life-threatening illness and end-of-life care. The search engine provides access to a comprehensive collection of reviewed resources for end-of-life care and offers more than 70 different electronic discussion lists related to all aspects of end-of-life care.
The National Consensus Project is an initiative that aims to improve the delivery of palliative care in the United States. The Clinical Practice Guidelines, which describe core precepts and structures of clinical palliative care programs, are available for download.
Palliative Care Matters is designed for professionals working in palliative care and related fields. New articles and postings are available and updated continuously, as are other downloads for clinical practice. As a registered user, you are automatically notified of new items added since your last visit.
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine provides position statements, such as "Statement on Foregoing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration," and other resources to raise awareness on important issues related to hospice and palliative care. Fast Facts provide 135 papers and statements on providing palliative care in specific situations.
End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center, originally funded by a grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shares educational resource materials among the community of health professional educators involved in palliative care education. Major content areas in end-of-life/palliative education include pain, non-pain symptoms, communications skills, ethics, terminal care, and clinical interventions used near the end of life.
Dying Well provides resources for people facing life-limiting illness, their families, and their professional caregivers. The site provides information on publications and other resources, a Dying Well Discussion Guide, and the Missoula-Vitas Quality of Life Index: A Measure for Terminal Care.
The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) provides various resources, including books, audiotapes, and teleconferences. HPNA lists 11 position statements on palliative and end-of-life care, available for download, and provides a Pain Control Advocacy Toolkit.
Partnership for Caring partners individuals and organizations and is a collaboration of people to advocate for excellent end-of-life care. The latest information on pending legislation in end-of-life care is provided, along with Grief Tips and a Consumer E-Newsletter.
Palliative Care for HIV/AIDS provides information on how to order A Clinical Guide on Supportive and Palliative Care for People with HIV/AIDS, 2003, for free, or the document may be downloaded in sections.
Offered by the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, Brown Medical School, Quality of Life While Dying contains an authoritative bibliography of instruments to measure the quality of care and quality of life for dying patients and their families.
Coming next month to home Healthcare Nurse
Look for these exciting articles and features in our next issue!!
[black down pointing small triangle] Teaching Correct Use of Inhaled Medications
[black down pointing small triangle] Agencies Make a Difference in Home Healthcare Nurses' Job Satisfaction
[black down pointing small triangle] Improvement in the Outcome Indicator of Readmission of Patients With Heart Failure: A Case Analysis
[black down pointing small triangle] Caring for Patients of Diverse Religious Traditions: Judaism
[black down pointing small triangle] Easy Breathing: COPD Web Sites
All this, and much, much more!!