Additional
Resources
*NEW 9/09* Clinical Algorithm & Preferred Medications to Treat Pain in Dialysis Patients is a brochure developed by an international panel of experts in pain and symptom management in order to assist caregivers while managing pain in dialysis patients. The brochure includes:
- A pain management algorithm
- An overview of the essentials of pain management
- the World Health Organization's analgesic ladder
- Instructions for neuropathic and nociceptive pain treatment
- How to manage opioid adverse effects
- Preferred medications in CKD
- A pain assessment tool.
Click here for a list of related reference materials.
AMERICA'S CARE OF SERIOUS ILLNESS: A State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation's Hospitals provides the Center to Advance Palliative Care's (CAPC) 2008 “report card,” which shows that the nation gets an overall grade of C in access to hospital palliative care. Visit http://www.capc.org/reportcard/summary to see how each state's palliative programs are rated.
"The POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Paradigm to Improve End-of-Life Care: Potential State Legal Barriers to Implementation." Susan E. Hickman, Charles Sabatino, Alvin H. Moss, and Jessica Wehrle Nester. Printed in the Spring 2008 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.
State & Federal Legislation on Advance
Directives & DNR Orders:
End-of-Life
Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)
The ELNEC
project is a national education initiative to improve end-of-life
care in the United States. Over the next 6 months, ELNEC is
providing 3 critical care courses for nurses who work in critical
care areas, including dialysis units. This is a train-the-trainer
program; trainers will return to their institutions equipped
to train others. Social workers and other disciplines are
invited to attend, except for the January 2007 course.
Questions
and Answers is a document intended
to educate ESRD patients and their families about end-of-life
care.
Supportive
Care for the Renal Patient A book edited by E. Joanna
Chambers, Michael Germain, and Edwina Brown, that provides
comprehensive guidance in providing palliative care to dialysis
patients.
Dying
Well (book) A book written by Ira Byock, MD, that provides
resources for individuals facing serious illness. Dr. Byock,
a palliative care expert and advocate for enhanced end-of-life
care, also offers information for families and professional
caregivers.
Growth
House has a collection of international resources for
end-of-life care. This site includes a search engine to provide
in-depth resources on compassionate care for those suffering
from serious illnesses.
The Alliance for Care at the End of Life, a 501(c)4 organization, was created by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in April of 2007 to provide a more aggressive and comprehensive advocacy voice that will serve the entire field and, ultimately, one of America's most vulnerable populations - those nearing the end of life.
National
Alliance for Caregiving is a non-profit coalition created
in 1996 to support family caregivers and the professionals
who serve them. Its membership includes more than 30 national
organizations.
National
Family Caregivers Association provides services, support,
and education to improve the quality of life for caregivers
and families. The association offers free membership for family
caregivers.
MediCaring.net is a site sponsored by the Palliative Care Policy Center, formerly known as Center for Palliative Care Studies (CPCS). This site offers a variety of resources on improving end-of-life care such as caregiver guides and research on chronic illness.
www.polst.org
The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
Paradigm program is designed to improve the quality of care
people receive at the end of life. The term POLST Paradigm
is used to describe several programs, developed on a state
or community-wide basis, having different program names, forms,
and policies. This website maintains a posting of states that
have adopted such programs.
Federal
Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) Final Regulations
On November 5, 1990, Congress passed this measure as an amendment
to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. It became
effective on December 1, 1991. The PSDA requires many Medicare
and Medicaid providers (hospitals, nursing homes, hospice
programs, home health agencies, and HMOs) to give adult individuals,
at the time of inpatient admission or enrollment, certain
information about their rights under state laws governing
advance directives, including
- the right to participate
in and direct their own health care decisions;
- the right to accept or
refuse medical or surgical treatment;
- the right to prepare an
advance directive;
- information on the provider's
policies that govern the utilization of these rights.
The act also prohibits institutions
from discriminating against a patient who does not have an
advance directive. The PSDA further requires institutions
to document patient information and provide ongoing community
education on advance directives.
American
Bar Association offers information in layman's terms about
Health Care Advance Directives. It describes the Patient Self-Determination
Act (PSDA) and provides useful information to consider when
drafting your own document.
California
HealthCare Foundation provides an article and several
resources on racial, cultural, and ethnic factors affecting
the quality of end-of-life care.
Understanding
End-of-Life Care: The Social Worker's Role (6/30/04) and
Achieving
Cultural Competence to Reduce Health Disparities in End of
Life Care are online courses developed and offered by the National Association
of Social Workers. Free registration is required to access
these courses, and social workers can earn CEUs for participation.
Advance Care Planning Brochure Talking about their wishes can help patients and their families plan for their future care.
Dying
Well (online course) is part of the Digital Imaging Advancement
Productions' (DIA) Learning division. This course contains
high-quality video documentary, text, and quiz components
and is approved by the National Association of Social Workers-Missouri
Chapter for 12 continuing education hours.
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