Analyzing innovative policies and practices for palliative care in Portugal: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Countries with formal policies for palliative care, and advanced and integrated practices in this field, such as Portugal, face challenges in achieving excellence in care, particularly in home-based assistance. Issues include care coordination among providers, confusion regarding the roles of each health care professional in the network, and a lack of monitoring and evaluation of actions. Our objective was to analyze the implementation of palliative care in primary health care in Portugal. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory study in Portugal involving health care professionals with experience in palliative care. The data were collected through semistructured interviews and focus groups between March and October 2023. Eighteen health care professionals participated. We used the Alceste software for lexicographic analysis. The research was authorized by an Ethics Committee. RESULTS: Four classes were identified; classes 1 and 2, comprising 77% of the corpus, addressed the study objectives. Participants highlighted inequitable access, strategic development plans with unattainable short-term goals; and low literacy. They emphasized the importance of legislation, professional training initiatives for generalist palliative care at home, and early referral. Home-based challenges included professionals' lack of exclusive dedication, absence of 24/7 coverage, and unavailability of capable family caregivers. The networks' response to hospital admissions and patient transitions from hospital to home, with access to the specialized team, was also inadequate. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals aim to increase patients' time spent at home, reduce emergency department visits, and minimize hospitalizations by leveraging the resources of the national palliative care network. In addition to investments to sustain network implementation and legally guaranteed palliative care rights, the country must focus on measurable indicators for evaluating and monitoring actions, providing better guidance in the short, medium, and long term.

Spray skin protectant versus standard moisturiser in the prevention of radiodermatitis in patients with anal canal and rectal cancer: A randomised clinical trial.

The evidence on products for the prevention of radiodermatitis is limited. The primary objective was to analyse the effectiveness of the spray skin protectant 'non-burning barrier film' in the prevention of radiodermatitis with moist desquamation in patients with the anal canal and rectal cancer followed in nursing consultations compared to a standardised moisturiser based on Calendula officinalis and Aloe barbadensis. Single-blind randomised clinical trial. The study was performed in a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with 63 patients undergoing anal canal and rectal cancer treatment, randomised into one of the following two groups: an experimental group, which used a spray skin protectant and a control group, which used a moisturiser. Data were collected using an initial and subsequent evaluation form and were assessed using descriptive and inferential analyses. Participants who used the spray skin protectant had a lower chance of presenting radiodermatitis with moist desquamation and a longer time without this outcome when compared to the control group. The overall incidence of radiodermatitis was 100%, with 36.5% being severe. Furthermore, 17.5% of participants discontinued radiotherapy due to radiodermatitis. There were no differences between the groups regarding the severity of radiodermatitis and the number of patients who discontinued radiotherapy. The skin protectant was effective in preventing radiodermatitis with moist desquamation amongst patients with anal canal and rectal cancer.

[Participation of the family in hospital-based palliative cancer care: perspective of nurses]. / Participação do familiar nos cuidados paliativos oncológicos no contexto hospitalar: perspectiva de enfermeiros.

The objective was to understand the perspective of nurses about the participation of the family in palliative cancer care and to analyze the nursing care strategies to meet their needs. Descriptive and qualitative research, conducted at the National Cancer Institute between January and March 2013, with 17 nurses. Elements of the Roy Adaptation Model were used for the interpretation of the data. Two categoriesemergedfrom the thematic analysis: perspective of nurses about the presence and valuation of family in the hospital; and appointing strategies to encourage family participation in care and meet their needs. This participation is essentialand represents a training opportunity for the purpose of homecare. Nurses create strategies to encourage it and seek to meet the needs. The results contribute to promote the family adaptation and integrity, in order to balance the dependent and independent behaviors, aimingfor quality of life and comfort. Further studies are neededdue to the challenges of the specialty.

The Organization of Home Palliative Cancer Care by Primary Health Care: A Systematic Review Protocol.

Greater longevity and chronic diseases, such as cancer, require (re)organization of care for the sustainability of health systems and better quality of life. Palliative care organized by primary health care has positive outcomes, changing standards of care at the end of life, reducing hospitalizations and health costs and contributing to people's autonomy to stay at home with controlled symptoms. However, in many countries, this is not possible because the provision of palliative cancer care is isolated or generalized, concentrated in the hospital, and without the strategic participation of primary care. In many developed countries, where palliative care is offered in an integrated way, home care has increased the people's chances of receiving dignified care at the end of life. The aim of this review is to evaluate the organization of home palliative cancer care by primary care to improve the use of health resources and the quality of life of such patients. This systematic review protocol follows the Cochrane methodology to provide a narrative synthesis, with the resulting report guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA).

Nursing care management for children hospitalized with chronic conditions.

OBJECTIVE: to understand the interactions of nurses managing nursing care for the hospitalized child with a chronic condition. METHOD: Theoretical and methodological references were used, Complex Thought and grounded theory, respectively. In the study 18 subjects have participated arranged in three groups: nurses, nursing technicians and family members. A semi-structured interview was used as technique for data collection. The data analysis followed three stages of coding: open, axial and selective. RESULTS: the category "Needing to manage nursing care to the hospitalized child with chronic condition in Pediatric Inpatient Unit" and their subcategories show the complex inter subjective bindings established by nurses that support the practice of nursing care management. CONCLUSION: There are difficulties for nursing professionals to interact with the child's family and the dialogical order/disorder/interaction/organization in the implementation of the management process of care is.

Adverse events and safety in nursing care.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the scientific publications about adverse events in nursing care in adult hospitalized patients and discuss the main adverse events in nursing care. METHOD: Integrative revision with a qualitative approach. The data were collected at LILACS, MEDLINE, BDENF and the library SCIELO and were submitted to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three categories were developed: Adverse events in nursing care; The main causes of the adverse events in nursing care; Attitude of nursing professionals in face of errors. The main events were identified in nursing care with emphasis on the medication error, the failure to perform dressings and falls of patients. The importance of instruments was emphasized for notification of adverse events in the institutions. However the fear of punishment on professionals stimulates the underreporting of events. CONCLUSION: It is important to discuss effective prevention strategies that ensure patient safety in healthcare institutions.

Nursing work at night in palliative oncology care.

OBJECTIVE: to understand the meaning baccalaureate nurses and nursing technicians attribute to night work in the context of clinical palliative oncology nursing care services, as well as how nursing works to attend to clients and caregivers' needs in this period. METHOD: in this exploratory and qualitative study, grounded theory was used. Seven nurses and four nursing technicians were interviewed, who composed two sample groups. Nine categories were produced and, in their comparative content analysis, a knowledge emphasis was evidenced with implications for nighttime nursing work. In this study, these aspects were discussed in two of the categories, which are: to describe care practice in order to understand nursing care management and to point out the difficulties in care practice and nursing care management. RESULTS: The results evidence the complexity in the nighttime care context, considering the clients' clinical conditions and clients and caregivers' psychological demands, mainly because of the threat of death. CONCLUSION: The team attempts to respond to these needs through communication, but reveals a lack of assistential services and an overload. Interdisciplinarity is a palliative care premise, favoring holistic care delivery, and cannot be neglected at, which requires attention and investment to develop better practices.

Perfil de diagnósticos de enfermería en un hospital brasileño especializado en cuidados paliativos oncológicos / Profile of nursing diagnoses in a Brazilian hospital specializing in palliative care in cancer

La finalidad de este estudio fue trazar el perfil de diagnósticos de enfermería en el contexto de la hospitalización en cuidados paliativos oncológicos y las respectivas intervenciones de enfermería. Estudio transversal, retrospectivo, cuantitativo, llevado a cabo en hospital público especializado en cuidados paliativos, en Río de Janeiro, Brasil. La muestra abarcó 280 registros de personas hospitalizadas entre julio y diciembre de 2010. Se evidenció la prevalencia de individuos con déficit de autocuidados, movilidad física afectada, riesgo para e integridad de la piel perjudicada, riesgo de infección, nutrición desequilibrada, fatiga, mucosa oral perjudicada y dolor. En general, el conocimiento del perfil de los diagnósticos de enfermería contribuye con el retrato de la realidad, a partir de la identificación de los principales problemas que presentan los pacientes y sus familiares. Este perfil coloca en evidencia los recursos necesarios para la atención de una enfermería adecuada, siendo esencial para la organización, planificación y para el establecimiento de prioridades por parte del enfermero.

This study aimed to outline the nursing diagnosis profile during hospitalization in cancer palliative care and related nursing interventions. A cross-sectional, retrospective and quantitative approach, was performed in a palliative care specialized hospital, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Records of 280 patients hospitalized between July and December 2010 comprised the sample. The prevalence of patients with high degree of dependence, impaired physical mobility, risk for and impaired skin integrity, risk for infection, imbalanced nutrition, fatigue, impaired oral mucous membrane and pain, was revealed. In general, knowledge of the profile of nursing diagnosis contributes to document the reality, based on a survey of the main problems presented by patients and their families. This profile shows the resources needed for adequate nursing care and is essential to the organization, planning and priority setting by nurses.