Nurses' experiences of clinical use of a quality of life instrument in palliative care

Citation

Lundh Hagelin C, Wengstrom Y, Tishelman C & Furst CJ (2007) Nurses' experiences of clinical use of a quality of life instrument in palliative care. Contemporary Nurse, 27 (1), pp. 29-38. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2007.27.1.29

Abstract
This pilot study explored how nursing staff experienced clinical use of a quality of life (QoL) instrument as complement to their standard assessment interview. Twenty-six of 36 Registered Nurses working in one palliative care service responded in writing to 6 open questions. We found that nurses described positive features in using the QoL instrument related to how it supported their professional role, eased therapeutic contact with patients, and in terms of the outcomes of its use. Others noted difficulties incorporating the tool into the framework of their traditional nursing assessment, noting instrument and situation-specific limitations, with attitudes and comfort with the questionnaire affecting its use. Clinical use of QoL tools may be facilitated by emphasizing their role as a first screening assessment, and acknowledging and supporting the importance of clinical expertise and the patient-nurse relationship in further more focussed assessments and nursing care.

Keywords
palliative care; nursing; self-assessment questionnaire; quality of life; qualitative research; palliative care; Cancer Patients Care; Quality of life; Patient advocacy; Patients and carers

Journal
Contemporary Nurse: Volume 27, Issue 1