| Abstrakt: |
Aims To gather demographic data on deceased persons and assess their case notes for evidence of best practice in care of the dying, as established from available literature. Methods An audit tool was developed to assess deaths as part of a short-term research project for the purpose of collecting this data. The case notes of patients who had died in Christchurch Hospital, the Nurse Maude Hospice and two aged residential care (ARC) facilities in Christchurch were retrospectively reviewed between November and December 2015. Deaths were categorised as hospital or community (hospice and ARC) and 'expected' or 'unexpected'. The latter categorisation was made using a descriptive table that identifies illness characteristics that preceded the death. Results Hospital deaths were predominantly in older patients on generalmedical wards. A significant difference was found between 'expected' and 'unexpected' deaths in hospital in terms of the number of quality indicators of dying that were identified. No significant difference was found between 'expected' deaths in hospital and community settings. Specific indicators that were less commonly documented in the clinical notes were 'discussion of the preferred place of death', 'spiritual needs', and 'after-death care'. Conclusion Based on the clinical documentation, it is possible for patients to have a 'good' death, regardless of location or background illness if physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual, and family/whānau needs are met. The audit, however, reveals aspects of care that are not well documented for dying patients, providing the opportunity for further education and standardisation of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
