This title is directed primarily towards health care professionals outside of the United States. Palliative Care: The Nursing Role is an introductory text for nurses and other health care professionals who deliver palliative care across a range of settings. It lays a clear foundation of knowledge focusing on the needs and perspectives of patients and families who face the challenge of advanced, incurable illness. The style is highly accessible yet challenges readers to analyze key issues that present within palliative care. Covering the wide range of care provision in hospices, hospitals and patients' homes, the book draws widely from practice based examples to explain and expand upon theoretical issues. Research evidence underpins each of the chapters. Guided activities encourage readers to reflect, in a focused way, on their clinical experience and current practice. This new edition has been fully updated to reflect ongoing developments and shifting trends in palliative care education and practice. It will suit the needs of both pre and post-qualifying students seeking to develop their knowledge and is well suited to practitioners working within either generalist or specialist palliative care settings, or within acute or community settings as well as those studying a range of palliative care educational curricula. The authors have a wide range of experience in palliative care and all are actively engaged in practice and/or education. A clear, broad-based approach offers a thorough introduction for the non-specialist nurse. Written and edited by an experienced team of nurses working in this field, grounding it in current practice. Learning outcomes listed at the start of each chapter aid learning and comprehension. Reflective practice activities and an outline of CPD is especially useful for students working independently. Case histories, recommended reading lists, and references provide a solid evidence base for clinically based practice and facilitate further study. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect changes in policy direction. A new chapter on pain and symptom management. Revised content reflects the recent shift in the evidence base concerning spirituality. Includes psychosocial issues of loss for the patient, their family, and careers.

The long history of medical care for the dying has largely been neglected. It began in 1605 when physicians were challenged to enable persons to die peacefully. Today it includes palliation of oppressive symptoms, emotional and psychological care, and respect for the wishes and cultural backgrounds of patients and families. Especially since the 1990s, it embraces symptom-easing palliation for patients with severe life-limiting and chronic illnesses. Providing a detailed picture of contemporary palliative care, this book chronicles four centuries of the quest for a good death, covering the fight against futile end-of-life treatments, the history of life-extending treatments and technologies, the roles of nurses, the liberation of the dying from isolation in hospitals and hard-won victories to secure patients' right to choose.

Handbook of palliative care Comprehensive resource utilising up-to-date evidence and guidelines to support non-specialists in palliative care in both hospital and community settings Building on the success of previous editions, this new edition of the award winning handbook has a practical focus and provides the user with an approach to clinical challenges while also providing enough information to explain why this approach is suggested. The 4th edition of Handbook of Palliative Care supports non-specialists in palliative care in both hospital and community settings and focuses on holistic care and therapeutic interventions. With several new chapters and content significantly updated to reflect new evidence and practice, the 4th edition also presents up-to-date evidence, guidance in a succinct format and utilises flow charts and figures to enhance the accessibility of information. Written by four highly accomplished nursing and medical authors with over 100 years’ experience between them in hospital, hospice, care home and community settings, Handbook of Palliative Care provides: Guidance from clinicians who are experts in their field An acknowledgment of the requirements of healthcare professionals attending to patients with palliative care needs, along with a dedicated chapter addressing this topic Contemporary guidance on medicine management, symptom control and managing complications of cancer Palliative care in heart failure, renal disease and advanced liver, neurological and respiratory diseases An in-depth look at patient and public involvement in palliative care and inequity Skill development including communication, ethical considerations and spiritual care New chapters including frailty, dementia, and multi-morbidity; and palliative care for people living with mental illness and people with intellectual disabilities This 4th edition of Handbook of Palliative Care is an ideal supporting resource for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals caring for patients with palliative care needs in the UK and beyond. The 1st edition was the winner of the 1999 BMA Medical Book of the Year Prize.

The Palliative Care Handbook 9th edition is a sought-after resource globally and now for the first time this new edition includes extensive support for advanced dementia. A popular resource promoting clinical excellence in palliative care, this ninth edition has been updated by authors Professor Rod MacLeod and Dr Stephen Macfarlane to include comprehensive guidelines for people with dementia receiving end-of-life care. It builds on previous editions to address the fact that dementia is now a leading cause of death across the globe but that often people with dementia are more likely to receive the palliative care that they need. Although small in size – for ease of use by clinicians – the book’s impact is large and is often purchased by families and patients to help them understand the symptoms, treatments and drugs they are encountering. The Palliative Care Handbook offers a thorough understanding of symptoms and treatments which emphasise the importance of a holistic approach to managing patients’ physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. The first section of the book provides an explanation of palliative care as well as guidelines for alleviation of the symptoms and challenges commonly encountered. Considerations of the needs of the person with dementia are now embedded throughout this section. The second section is a comprehensive listing of drug information including unlicensed uses and interactions. Since its first publication in 1994, The Palliative Care Handbook has been consistently revised, developed and updated to be an essential and practical international resource enabling quality palliative care.

This text is concerned with the organization, ideas and problems of palliative care in the European context. As a result of a BIOMED project, various organizations, concepts and problematic issues of palliative care have been studied and described.

Death, dying, loss, and care giving are not just medical issues, but societal ones. Palliative care has become increasingly professionalised, focused around symptom science. With this emphasis on minimizing the harms of physical, psychological, and spiritual stress, there has been a loss of how cultures and communities look after their dying, with the wider social experience of death often sidelined in the professionalisation and medicalisation of care. However, the people we know and love in the places we know and love make up what matters most for those undergoing the experiences of death, loss, and care giving. Over the last 25 years the theory, practice, research evidence base, and clinical applications have developed, generating widespread adoption of the principles of public health approaches to palliative care. The essential principles of prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, and health and wellbeing promotion can be applied to the universal experience of end of life, irrespective of disease or diagnosis. Compassionate communities have become a routine part of the strategy and service development in palliative care, both within the UK and internationally. The Oxford Textbook of Public Health Palliative Care provides a reframing of palliative care, bringing together the full scope of theory, practice, and evidence into one volume. Written by international leaders in the field, it provides the first truly comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the subject that will help to further inform developments in this growing specialty.

The Textbook of Palliative Care Communication is the authoritative text on communication in palliative care, providing a compilation of international and interdisciplinary perspectives. This volume was uniquely developed by an interdisciplinary editorial team to address an array of providers including physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, and it unites clinicians with academic researchers interested in the study of communication. By featuring practical conversation and curriculum tools stemming from research, this text integrates scholarship and inquiry into translatable content that others can use to improve their practice, teach skills to others, and engage in patient-centered communication. The volume begins by defining communication, explicating debatable issues in research, and highlighting specific approaches to studying communication in a palliative care context. Chapters focus on health literacy and cultural communication, patient and family communication, barriers and approaches to discussing palliative care with specific patient populations, pain, life support, advance care planning, and quality of life topics such as sexuality, spirituality, hope, and grief. Team communication in various care settings is outlined, and current research and education for healthcare professionals are summarized. Unique to this volume are chapters on conducting communication research, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to promote further research in palliative care.

The definitive Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine, now in its fifth edition, has again been thoroughly updated to offer a truly global perspective in this field of extraordinary talent and thoughtfulness. Updated to include new sections devoted to assessment tools, care of patients with cancer, and the management of issues in the very young and the very old, this leading textbook covers all the new and emerging topics since its original publication in 1993. In addition, the multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care is emphasized throughout the book, covering areas from ethical and communication issues, the treatment of symptoms and the management of pain. This fifth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine is dedicated to the memory of Professor Geoffrey Hanks, pioneer in the field of palliative medicine, and co-editor of the previous four editions. Winner in the Medicine category of the British Medical Association Book Awards, this is a truly comprehensive text, no hospital, hospice, palliative care service, or medical library should be without this essential source of information.