Recognising and managing dying patients in the acute hospital setting: can we do better?

Intern Med J. 2019 Jan;49(1):119-122. doi: 10.1111/imj.14177.

Abstract

Healthcare professionals have limited formal end-of-life care training despite the large proportion of hospital deaths. A retrospective review of 201 acute hospital deaths revealed 166 (82.6%) had documentation to suggest the patient was dying but this was performed late with a median time between documentation and death of 0.84 days. Furthermore, 132 (66%) patients received an intervention in the final 48 h of life. This highlights the need to improve the recognition and management of dying patients in acute hospitals.

Keywords: communication; death; education; end-of-life care; recognising dying.

MeSH terms

  • Clinical Competence / standards*
  • Decision Making*
  • Documentation / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Physician's Role
  • Sentinel Surveillance
  • Terminal Care / standards*
  • Time Factors