Nurses' role in clarifying goals in the intensive care unit

The Crucial Role of Nurses and Social Workers in Initiating End-of-Life Communication to Reduce Overtreatment in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The large scale and rapid spread of the current COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way hospitals and other health services operate. Opportunities for patient-centered decision-making at the end of life are being jeopardized by a scarcity of health system resources. In response, the traditional doctor-initiated advanced care planning (ACP) for critical illness may also need to be readjusted. We propose nurse-led and allied health-led ACP discussions to ensure patient and family inclusion and understanding of the disease prognosis, prevention of overtreatment, and potential outcomes in crisis times. We highlight known barriers and list enablers, long-term and short-term opportunities to assist in the culture change.

Ambiente da prática de enfermagem em unidades de terapia intensiva

Resumo Objetivo Analisar o ambiente da prática de enfermagem em unidades de terapia intensiva. Métodos Estudo descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, realizado com 209 profissionais de enfermagem de três hospitais de ensino brasileiros. O ambiente da prática de enfermagem foi avaliado através da Practice Environment Scale. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente, assumindo nível de significância de 5% (p<0,05). O coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach foi utilizado para examinar a consistência interna dos construtos. Resultados Os profissionais de enfermagem consideraram desfavoráveis quatro das cinco dimensões do ambiente da prática profissional: participação dos enfermeiros na discussão dos assuntos hospitalares; fundamentos de enfermagem voltados para a qualidade do cuidado, habilidade, liderança e suporte dos coordenadores/supervisores de enfermagem aos enfermeiros/equipe de enfermagem; e adequação da equipe e de recursos. Apenas a dimensão relações colegiais entre profissionais de enfermagem e médicos apresentou avaliação positiva. Enfermeiros reconheceram mais fortemente atributos desfavoráveis no ambiente de prática do que técnicos de enfermagem. Conclusão O ambiente mostrou-se desfavorável para a prática dos profissionais de enfermagem. Esforços são necessários para tornar o ambiente de prática mais atrativo aos profissionais de enfermagem, e assim estimular melhorias na qualidade e na segurança da assistência prestada.

Nurse Communication About Goals of Care

Conversations about goals of care with the patient and family are a critical component of advanced practice in oncology. However, there are often inadequate team structures, training, or resources available to assist advanced practitioners in initiating these conversations. We conducted a study to assess nurses’ perceived role and communication tasks in such conversations about goals of care. In a cross-sectional survey of 109 nurses attending a comprehensive 2-day end-of-life nursing education course, nurses were asked to describe how they would participate in a "goals of care" meeting in three different scenarios. They were also asked what changes they desired in their clinical settings. Nurses overwhelmingly described that their primary task and communication role was to assess patient/family understanding. Nurses referenced their team members and team support with the least frequency across scenarios. Team roles, structure, and process were reported as areas in greatest need of change in patient/family goals of care meetings. These findings demonstrate that lack of preparation to function as a team is a barrier for nurses in communicating about goals of care, and there is a demand to move such conversations upstream in oncology care.

Improving End-of-Life Care Prognostic Discussions

Research has validated the desire of patients and families for ongoing prognostic information; however, few conversations occur before patients reach the advanced stages of their disease trajectory. Physician hesitance and delay in discussing unfavorable prognoses deny patients and families optimal time to prepare for critical decision making. Advanced practice registered nurses can play a crucial, complementary role with the critical care interdisciplinary team to implement strategies to improve communication about prognosis and end of life with patients and families. Clinicians should discuss deterioration in disease-specific characteristics and changes (decline) in functional status. Functional status can serve as an accurate guide for forecasting prognosis, particularly in patients with heart failure, stroke, chronic lung disease, and end-stage renal disease. This article provides an overview of effective intensive care unit prognostic systems and discusses barriers and opportunities for nurses to use evidence-based knowledge related to disease trajectory and prognosis to improve communication and the quality of palliative and end-of-life care for patients.

The quality of intensive care unit nurse handover related to end of life: a descriptive comparative international study

BACKGROUND

Quality ICU end-of-life-care has been found to be related to good communication. Handover is one form of communication that can be problematic due to lost or omitted information. A first step in improving care is to measure and describe it.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to describe the quality of ICU nurse handover related to end-of-life care and to compare the practices of different ICUs in three different countries.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive comparative study.

SETTINGS

The study was conducted in seven ICUs in three countries: Australia (1 unit), Israel (3 units) and the UK (3 units).

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 157 handovers was studied.

METHODS

Handover quality was rated based on the ICU End-of-Life Handover tool, developed by the authors.

RESULTS

The highest levels of handover quality were in the areas of goals of care and pain management while lowest levels were for legal issues (proxy and advanced directives) related to end of life. Significant differences were found between countries and units in the total handover score (country: F(2,154)=25.97, p=<.001; unit: F(6,150)=58.24, p=<.001), for the end of life subscale (country: F(2, 154)=28.23, p<.001; unit: F(6,150)=25.25, p=<.001), the family communication subscale (country: F(2,154)=15.04, p=<.001; unit: F(6,150)=27.38, p=<.001), the family needs subscale (F(2,154)=22.33, p=<.001; unit: F(6,150)=42.45, p=<.001) but only for units on the process subscale (F(6,150)=8.98, p=<.001. The total handover score was higher if the oncoming RN did not know the patient (F(1,155)=6.51, p=<.05), if the patient was expected to die during the shift (F(1,155)=89.67, p=<.01) and if the family were present (F(1,155)=25.81, p=<.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Practices of end-of-life-handover communication vary greatly between units. However, room for improvement exists in all areas in all of the units studied. The total score was higher when quality of care might be deemed at greater risk (if the nurses did not know the patient or the patient was expected to die), indicating that nurses were exercising some form of discretionary decision making around handover communication; thus validating the measurement tool.

Communication by nurses in the intensive care unit: qualitative analysis of domains of patient-centered care

BACKGROUND

High-quality communication is a key determinant and facilitator of patient-centered care. Nurses engage in most of the communication with patients and patients' families in the intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE

To perform a qualitative analysis of nurses' communications.

METHODS

Ethnographic observations of 315 hours of interactions and 53 semistructured interviews with 33 nurses were conducted in a 26-bed cardiac-medical intensive care unit in an academic hospital and a 26-bed general intensive care unit in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Portland, Oregon. Communication interactions were categorized into 5 domains of patient-centered care. Interviews were analyzed to identify major themes in nurses' roles and preferences for communicating with patients and patients' families within the domains.

RESULTS

Most communication occurred in the domains of biopsychosocial information exchange, patient as person, and clinician as person. Nurses endorsed the importance of the domains of shared power and responsibility and therapeutic alliance but had relatively few communication interactions in these areas. Communication behaviors were strongly influenced by the nurses' roles as translators of information between physicians and patients and the patients' families and what the nurses were and were not willing to communicate to patients and patients' families.

CONCLUSIONS

Critical care, including communication, is a collaborative effort. Understanding how nurses engage in patient-centered communication in the intensive care unit can guide future interventions to improve patient-centered care.

Intensive care nurses’ involvement in the end-of-life process – perspectives of relatives

In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study that explored how the relatives of intensive care unit patients experienced the nurses’ role and relationship with them in the end-of-life decision-making processes. In all, 27 relatives of 21 deceased patients were interviewed about their experiences in this challenging ethical issue. The findings reveal that despite bedside experiences of care, compassion and comfort, the nurses were perceived as vague and evasive in their communication, and the relatives missed a long-term perspective in the dialogue. Few experienced that nurses participated in meetings with doctors and relatives. The ethical consequences imply increased loneliness and uncertainty, and the experience that the relatives themselves have the responsibility of obtaining information and understanding their role in the decision-making process. The relatives therefore felt that the nurses could have been more involved in the process.

Training nurses for interdisciplinary communication with families in the intensive care unit: an intervention

BACKGROUND

Critical care nurse communication training has largely been limited to didactic materials, interactive training for nurse supervisors, or brief participatory learning programs within the context of comprehensive end-of-life care educational seminars. Preliminary evidence suggests that an interactive approach can also be effective in communication skills training for intensive care unit (ICU) nurses.

METHODS

We implemented a 1-day educational intervention in five acute care hospitals within Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 3 (New York-New Jersey region) of the Department of Veterans Affairs and focused solely on communication skills and targeted specifically to nurses providing bedside care for critically ill patients. A "learner centered" approach to skills training that has several integral components was employed. AMONG THESE ARE: a cognitive, evidence-based foundation upon which to build new skills; a method such as role-play that allows participants to practice newly learned skills; and an affective component, during which trainees can freely discuss their impressions of the exercise or explore difficulties that may have been encountered. Before and after the program we conducted a detailed assessment of participants' self-rated communication skills and of the techniques and materials we used.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Post-program responses documented significant improvement in self-evaluated skills for each of the core tasks we assessed. Evidence suggests that communication with patients and families in the ICU can be most effectively approached in an interdisciplinary way. For nurses to fully realize their potential for optimal communication as members of the multidisciplinary team, they must be equipped with the necessary skills. We believe this new program helps to expand the range of approaches for training nurses in essential communication skills.