Care of the Dying

Even for experienced healthcare professionals, managing the last few days of life are very difficult. This book is an edited guide based on an 'Integrated Care Pathway'. A Pathway specifies an agreed model of best care and also facilitates audit, by suggesting how quality of life outcomes can be measured.

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Even for the most experienced healthcare professional, managing the last few days of life can be difficult. This unique book provides guidelines for the care of the dying based on the Liverpool Integrated Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP). Developed at a hospice, the information can be disseminated and adapted to fit different settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. The LCP is a multiprofessional document that incorporates evidence based practice and appropriate guidelines related to care of the dying. It provides a template which describes the process of care which is generally delivered in a clinical situation and incorporates the expected outcome of care delivery. The LCP replaces all other documentation in this phase of care. Care pathways can provide a potentially powerful aid to professionals involved in palliative care. Basic principles of treatment are translated into daily practice, including bedside documentation systems, policies and procedures, standards of practice, continuing education and quality improvement programmes.
This book also includes chapters on symptom control, ethical issues, communication skills, and spiritual care written by experts in the field which underpin the use of the LCP. Care of the dying will prove invaluable to all healthcare professionals involved in the care of the dying patient, organisations and Trusts who want to develop demonstrable measures and outcomes of care.