Article
Translation of multidisciplinairy, palliative care guidelines to discipline specific guidelines for certified nurse assistents
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Published: | July 10, 2012 |
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Outline
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Background: In December 2010 our guideline developing department has published 40 new or revised, national, multidisciplinary guidelines for palliative care. Unfortunately, these guidelines are rarely used by certified nurse assistants (CNA). Whereas these professionals are important palliative care providers within care settings in which two-third of the patients died.
Context: Treatment in the palliative phase aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their family, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of timely identification and treatment of all problems. CNA's are closely involved in caring for these patients, therefore they have a main role in this early identification.
Description of best practice: We have developed a method that supports CNA’s in early identification of problems and needs of patients and their relatives in the palliative phase. The toolbox was tested on utility during a national conference on palliative care and tested on applicability in a hospice and home care organization. The box contains: 1) A roadmap to work systematically, 2) Identification cards for the ten most common symptoms, based on the national guidelines, 3) Background information on care problems, and 4) Worksheets that support the practical implementation of above products and the communication with other disciplines.
Lessons for guideline developers, adaptors, implementers, and/or users: For the implementation of multidisciplinary guidelines, it is important to modify knowledge to practice based tools applicable for different disciplines.