Emergency care for palliative patients in the emergency room: A literature review
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33024/minh.v8i4.743
Emergency Palliative Treatment
Abstract
Background: A lot of research has been done on the treatment of palliative patients who come to the emergency department. Although there are several models, it is still difficult to integrate palliative care into the ED.
Purpose: To determine how emergency care for palliative patients is implemented in the emergency department.
Method: The PCC framework (Population: palliative patients, Concept: emergency care, Context: emergency department) was used to generate the article questions for this literature review. A search for articles was conducted during November and December, 2024. Pubmed, the ScientDirect database and other resources were used as data sources. “Palliative care" OR "palliative medicine" OR "hospice and palliative care nursing" AND "emergency treatment" OR "emergency medical services" AND "emergency room" OR "ER" were used as keywords.
Results: Emergency care for palliative patients in emergency room has been implemented with a focus on symptom management and reducing the patient's suffering, maintaining patient comfort and involving families in decision making, with effective communication being essential. However, there are still serious barriers and challenges such as lack of staff education, problems with current emergency department systems and processes.
Conclusion: The knowledge and skills of nurses and other health workers need to be improved and more in-depth studies need to be carried out so the implementation of palliative patient care in emergency cases can be optimized.
Downloads
References
Agustini, N. L. P. I. B., Nursalam, N., & Sukartini, T. (2023). Effectiveness of Palliative Learning Model Based on Transformational Learning Theory on the Achievement of Nursing Student ’ Competency. 42.
Agustini, N. L. P. I. B., Satriani, N. L. A., Dewi, N. P. A. R., Yulistina, P. D., Dewi, P. S., Putra, P. A. S., Wijayanatha, I. P. A., & Yudha, G. K. E. (2023). Philosophy of Science on The Development of Palliative Nursing Practice in The Implementation of Long-Term Care for The Elderly: A Literature Review. 21(2), 226–238.
Alshammary, S. A., Duraisamy, B. P., Salem, L., & Altamimi, A. (2020). Integration of palliative care into primary health care: model of care experience. Cureus, 12(6).
Burnitt, E., Grealish, L. A., Crilly, J., May, K., & Ranse, J. (2024). Providing end of life care in the emergency department: A hermeneutic phenomenological study. Australasian Emergency Care, 27(3), 161–166.
Carey, M. L., Zucca, A. C., Freund, M. A. G., Bryant, J., Herrmann, A., & Roberts, B. J. (2019). Systematic review of barriers and enablers to the delivery of palliative care by primary care practitioners. Palliative Medicine, 33(9), 1131–1145.
Chang, J. C. Y., Yang, C., Lai, L. L., Huang, H. H., Tsai, S. H., Hsu, T. F., & Yen, D. H. T. (2021). Differences in characteristics, hospital care, and outcomes between acute critically ill emergency department patients receiving palliative care and usual care. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23).
Di Leo, S., Alquati, S., Autelitano, C., Costantini, M., Martucci, G., De Vincenzo, F., Kuczynska, B., Morini, A., Trabucco, L., Ursicelli, R., Catania, G., & Ghirotto, L. (2019). Palliative care in the emergency department as seen by providers and users: A qualitative study. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 27(1).
Ferre, A. C., Demario, B. S., & Ho, V. P. (2022). Narrative review of palliative care in trauma and emergency general surgery. Annals of Palliative Medicine, 11(2), 936–946.
Goett, R., Isaacs, E. D., Chan, G. K., Wang, D., Aberger, K., Pearl, R., Rosenberg, M., Loffredo, A. J., & Lamba, S. (2023). Quality measures for palliative care in the emergency department. Academic Emergency Medicine, 30(1), 53–58.
Mierendorf, S. M., & Gidvani, V. (2014). Palliative care in the emergency department. The Permanente Journal, 18(2), 77–85.
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. (2024). Penatalaksanaan Palliative Care di Pelayanan Kesehatan. Accessed from: https://lms.kemkes.go.id/courses/234bc5f8-ea3c-46ce-bcec-3e2dceb06856
Pesonen, E., Vuorinen, P., Surakka, L., Lehto, J. T., & Hoppu, S. (2024). Palliative care patients in the emergency medical service: a retrospective cohort study from Finland. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 543.
Prachanukool, T., George, N., Bowman, J., Ito, K., & Ouchi, K. (2023). Best Practices in End of Life and Palliative Care in the Emergency Department. In Clinics in Geriatric Medicine (Vol. 39, Issue 4, pp. 575–597). W.B. Saunders.
Saucier, J. L. (2018). Barriers and Perceptions to obtaining Palliative Care in theEmergency Department.
Tenge, T., Schallenburger, M., Batzler, Y. N., Roth, S., Mpembele, R., Stroda, A., Böhm, L., Bernhard, M., Jung, C., Meier, S., Kindgen-Milles, D., Kienbaum, P., Schwartz, J., & Neukirchen, M. (2024). Perceptions on Specialist Palliative Care Involvement During and After Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Qualitative Study. Critical Care Explorations, 6(4), E1077.
Verhoef, M. J., De Nijs, E. J. M., Fiocco, M., Heringhaus, C., Horeweg, N., & Van Der Linden, Y. M. (2020). Surprise Question and Performance Status Indicate Urgency of Palliative Care Needs in Patients with Advanced Cancer at the Emergency Department: An Observational Cohort Study. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 23(6), 801–808.
Waller, A., Hullick, C., Sanson-Fisher, R., & Herrmann-Johns, A. (2023). Optimal care of people with brain cancer in the emergency department: A cross-sectional survey of outpatient perceptions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 10(3).
Wilson, J. G., English, D. P., Owyang, C. G., Chimelski, E. A., Grudzen, C. R., Wong, H. N., Aslakson, R. A., Aslakson, R., & Vickey, T. (2020). End-of-life care, palliative care consultation, and palliative care referral in the emergency department: a systematic review. Journal of pain and symptom management, 59(2), 372-383.
Witjaksono, M. A. (2021). Prinsip Perawatan Paliatif dan aplikasinya. Accessed from: https://poijaya.org/2021/03/08/prinsip-perawatan-paliatif-dan-aplikasinya/
World Health Organization. (2020). Perawatan paliatif. Accessed from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/palliative-care
Wright, R., Lowton, K., Hanson, B., & Grocott, P. (2021). Older adult and family caregiver preferences for emergency department based-palliative care: An experience-based co-design study. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 3.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ni Luh Putu Inca Buntari Agustini, Ni Luh Dwi Indrayani, widiadnyana I Nyoman, Ni Luh Putu Yudi Aprianini, Putu Indah Jelita Lestari, Ni Ketut Erawati, I Made Jaya Kusuma, Vinda Ekabudiningsih
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
