Health Care Providers' Attitudes and Beliefs on Providing Palliative Care to Patients in Bahrain: Findings From a Qualitative Study

Palliative Care Practices and Knowledge of Home Care Nurses in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Palliative Care (PC) is an interdisciplinary specialty focused on relieving symptoms and optimizing quality of life for people living with serious illnesses and their families. A great need for PC exists in Saudi Arabia due to its aging population and prevalence of cancer and other chronic diseases. Home healthcare can make PC more accessible to patients, but clinicians must be equipped with the PC knowledge and skills to perform their roles. This study was a descriptive, correlational examination of PC practices and knowledge of home care nurses recruited from military hospitals in Saudi Arabia. We surveyed participants using the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN) and the Modified Global Home Health Nursing Care Assessment Questionnaire. The mean PCQN score was 8.40, indicating low levels of PC knowledge. A nurses' demographic and physical, spiritual, religious, cultural, linguistic, ethical, and legal aspects of care revealed significant associations. Given the low levels of PC knowledge and skills, we recommend focusing on education, training, and research. Universities should review their curriculum to ensure PC content. Hospitals should provide training programs focused on all aspects of PC, specifically emotional and spiritual, without limiting training to physical aspects of care. Future research is also needed to inform policy in this area.

Home-Based Palliative Care and Home Health Care in Saudi Arabia: An Integrative Literature Review

Aging populations and a rising disease burden have increased the need for palliative care (PC). Despite the growing demand for PC, only 14% of patients worldwide receive this service. Home-based PC is necessary because many people prefer to receive care and die at home. Nurses are well equipped to address diverse health care needs in the community and are critical to successful delivery of home-based PC. The purpose of this review is to synthesize and analyze literature relevant to home-based PC in Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on nursing. This purpose required us to examine literature in two areas: PC and home health care (HHC). We identified studies through database searches. We found 24 studies published between 2005 and 2021 that met quality and inclusion criteria. Although PC and HHC are associated with positive outcomes, lack of nurses’ knowledge and awareness of PC and the underdevelopment of HHC in Saudi Arabia have contributed to underuse of these services. Nurses are vital to the functioning of interdisciplinary teams and effective interfacing with patients, caregivers, and families. Education and training of nurses in Saudi Arabia is essential to promoting access to PC and HHC and the development of home-based PC in the kingdom.

Characteristics and outcomes of mechanically ventilated elderly patients in the absence of an end-of-life care policy: a retrospective study from Bahrain

BACKGROUND

Globally, the percentage of elderly patients has been increasing, leading to a higher demand for healthcare resources and intensive care. Bahrain has a majority Muslim population and Islam governs most policies, including end-of-life care. All patients at our institute receive full resuscitative measures regardless of the prognosis, leading to a high number of mechanically ventilated patients.

OBJECTIVES

Assess characteristics, outcomes, theoretical costs, and use of antibiotics in critically ill elderly patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

DESIGN

Retrospective.

SETTING

Intensive care unit and general ward of a tertiary medical care center.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We studied all elderly patients (≥60 years old) admitted under general medicine in the period of January to June 2018 who needed intensive care and were intubated.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The duration of mechanical ventilation, theoretical costs, antibiotic usage.

SAMPLE SIZE

140 patients.

RESULTS

Of 140 patients, 136 died (97%) and half of the deaths (n=69, 50.7%) occurred within the first 24 hours of intubation. Sixty-nine (79.3%) of the patients on short-term ventilation (≤96 hours) died within 24 hours of intubation, while the four survivors were on long-term ventilation (>96 hours) (P<.001). All the nonsurviving patients (n=136) were on antimicrobial therapy, mostly for hospital-acquired infections. The median (interquartile range) APACHE II score was relatively high at 28.0 (8.0) with significantly higher scores in the early mortality group compared to the late mortality group (30 [10] vs 26 [7], P=.013) and higher scores in the short-term vs long-term ventilation group (29 [10] vs 26 [7], P=.029). The median theoretical cost per patient in the early and late mortality groups was USD 10 731 and USD 30 660, respectively (P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Given that less than 3% of patients had a favorable outcome, 50% of the cases died within 24 hours after intubation, hospital costs and antimicrobial use were high, the current policy of "full resuscitative measures for all" should be revised. We suggest implementing an end-of-life care policy, since the goal of resuscitation is to reverse premature death, not prolong the dying process.

LIMITATIONS

Small sample size and absence of long-term follow-up. Theoretical costs were used as no direct calculated costs were available in our hospital.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

None.