CPD

Overcoming the barriers to optimal end of life care in the emergency department

Kay McCallum Nurse consultant, acute oncology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, England

Why you should read this article:

• To gain insight into caring for people at the end of life in the emergency department
• To enhance your understanding of the concept of a good death
• To count towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD, or you may wish to write a reflective account (UK readers)
• To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)

The focus of care in the emergency department (ED) is on saving or sustaining life, but some patients admitted to the ED die in the ED. Nurses whose focus is on saving lives may therefore find themselves providing end of life care to patients and their families in a stressful and distressing environment. Providing optimal end of life care involves reflecting on what a good death looks like and how patients can be supported to have a good death. This article describes the barriers to optimal end of life care in the ED and prompts nurses to think about how they can enhance their practice when caring for dying patients and their families.

Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2023.e2170

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@katieclaremc

Correspondence

kay.mccallum@ouh.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

McCallum K (2023) Overcoming the barriers to optimal end of life care in the emergency department. Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2023.e2170

Published online: 05 September 2023

Keywords :

accident and emergency - advance care planning - advance directives - attitudes to death - clinical - death - good death - grief - emergency care - end of life care - palliative care - sudden death