Capella 4000 Assessment 2

Capella 4000 Assessment 2 Applying Research Skills

Name

Capella University

NHS-FPX 4000 Developing a Health Care Perspective

Prof. Name

Date

Applying Research Skills

Palliative and end-of-life care (EOL) focuses on augmenting the standards of life for patients with life-threatening diseases that may lead to death. Currently, many patients and families face challenges in acquiring appropriate EOL care, leading to unmet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This assessment presents an annotated bibliography by applying research skills to the current healthcare problem, addressing the gaps in providing compassionate, holistic care.

Summary of the Healthcare Problem

According to the literature, approximately 57 million individuals require palliative care annually. However, due to disparities in access, communication, and resource availability, only 14% of this population receives it (Cotton et al., 2024). The growing aging population emphasizes the need for expanded palliative services, particularly as chronic diseases increase. This healthcare problem is particularly relevant to nursing practice as nurses play an essential role in EOL care by advocating for patient’s requirements, providing symptom management, and offering emotional support to both patients and their families (Nacak & Erden, 2023). As front-line caregivers, they ensure that care plans align with patients’ goals and values, enhancing comfort and dignity in the final stages of life.

Professional Experience

I have had professional exposure to palliative care through my clinical practice, where I have worked closely with patients nearing the end of life. This experience involved collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to manage symptoms, provide emotional support, and ensure patient dignity. This hands-on involvement has deepened my appreciation for the role of palliative care in improving patient outcomes and underscored the need for continuous education and advocacy for better palliative care resources.

Peer-reviewed Articles Search and Criteria to Assess Credibility

I used databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, and BioMed Central to research scholarly articles related to palliative and EOL care. The search criteria included keywords like “palliative care and ethical considerations,” “barriers to EOL care,” and “EOL care and nursing practice.” I filtered the results to include articles published within the last five years to ensure relevance and focused on studies that discussed nursing interventions, patient outcomes, and barriers to care. Additionally, I looked for research articles, reviews, and clinical guidelines to obtain a comprehensive view of the current evidence and best practices in this field.

Credibility and Relevance of Sources

The CRAAP criteria, currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose, were applied to assess the credibility of sources (Nakayama et al., 2022). The selected articles are published between 2020-2024 to ensure currency, with abstracts and conclusions confirming relevance to the healthcare problem. The studies focus on nursing practices, patient outcomes, and challenges in care. Each source provides current best practices, evidence-based strategies, and case studies that address common barriers, such as access to care, symptom management, and communication between healthcare teams and families, aligning with the focus of this research. Additionally, the authors’ authority was verified, with most being healthcare professionals or academics, ensuring the accuracy and trustworthiness of information. Finally, the purpose of the articles aligns with understanding and addressing palliative care issues to improve patient outcomes, making the sources useful for nursing practice.

Annotated Bibliography

Akdeniz, M., Yardımcı, B., & Kavukcu, E. (2021). Ethical considerations at the end-of-life care. SAGE Open Medicine, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121211000918

The purpose of the article is to explore the ethical challenges physicians encounter in EOL care and to emphasize the importance of biomedical ethics principles in guiding clinical decision-making. The article highlights several significant moral concerns in EOL care, including choices regarding cardiovascular restoration, involuntary ventilation, supplemental nourishment and water intake, euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide, final stag sedation, and withholding and stopping treatments (Akdeniz et al., 2021). The article concludes that a deep understanding of biomedical ethics principles is crucial for addressing ethical obstacles in EOL care. It finds that applying these principles can help healthcare professionals make informed, respectful, and compassionate decisions, ultimately improving the quality of care and supporting ethical practices in end-of-life scenarios. The rationale for including this article is its comprehensive analysis of the moral principles relevant to EOL care, which provides essential guidance for physicians and other healthcare professionals. It ensures that decisions are made with respect for patient autonomy and overall well-being.

Hashmi, S. A., Martins, R. S., Ishtiaq, A., Rizvi, N. A., Mustafa, M. A., Pervez, A., Siddiqui, A., Shariq, S. F., Nadeem, S., Haider, A. H., & Waqar, M. A. (2024). Development of palliative care clinical practice guidelines and referral care pathways for primary care practitioners in Pakistan. BioMed Central Palliative Care, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-024-01438-y

This article intends to develop comprehensive guidelines and referral methods for healthcare providers to provide palliative care, addressing a gap in services for patients with life-limiting illnesses. This article offers a guiding framework for adapting internationally recognized guidelines, making them more applicable and relevant to local healthcare settings in Pakistan. The article summarizes the need for standardized guidelines for palliative care due to a lack of services and the limitations of international guidelines. It describes how these standardized guidelines aimed to improve care quality and consistency in resource-constrained settings. The article concludes that the finalized guidelines and referral methods will aid in standardizing the provision of terminal-stage care in Pakistan and can serve as a model for other low-resourced countries. The rationale for including this article in palliative care research is its focus on creating tailored guidelines, making it relevant for improving palliative care services in countries facing challenges like limited access to care or inappropriate provision to enhance patient outcomes and improved quality of care.

Capella 4000 Assessment 2 Applying Research Skills

Lalani, N., & Cai, Y. (2022). Palliative care for rural growth and wellbeing: Identifying perceived barriers and facilitators in access to palliative care in rural Indiana, USA. BMC Palliative Care, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-022-00913-8

The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze the obstacles and enablers influencing rural Indiana residents’ access to palliative care services, where the aging population and chronic illness prevalence create a growing demand for such services. The study aims to offer insights from healthcare providers, educators, and community stakeholders to address healthcare inequities in these underserved regions. The findings reveal several barriers to accessing palliative care, including false beliefs, a lack of qualified healthcare professionals, a delay in the provision of treatments, inadequate education and training, limited resources, and remote location.

On the other hand, the facilitators identified include financial incentives that support palliative care expansion, the enhanced role of nurses in identifying patients in need, and community awareness efforts. The article concludes that addressing these barriers and leveraging facilitators are crucial for improving palliative care access in rural Indiana. Implementing robust education programs and increasing resources are recommended to enhance service availability and quality, ultimately reducing healthcare disparities in these areas. The rationale for including this article is its focus on providing practical barriers and facilitators in a specific context, giving valuable insights for researchers into improving palliative care access in rural communities.

Xu, Y., Zhang, S., Wang, J., Shu, Z., Jing, L., He, J., Liu, M., Chu, T., Teng, X., Ma, Y., & Li, S. (2023). Nurses’ practices and their influencing factors in palliative care. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1117923. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1117923

Capella 4000 Assessment 2 Applying Research Skills

The purpose of the article is to explore and analyze the factors influencing palliative care practices among nurses in Shanghai, China, focusing on the early stages of palliative care development. The results reveal that nurses’ efficiency, objective, and subjective regulations have a substantial influence on nursing practice for terminally ill patients. Specifically, their capabilities have direct and indirect effects, whereas intention and knowledge have a direct impact on practice. The article concludes that these critical factors influence palliative care practices among nurses. It recommends targeted interventions to improve these factors, thereby enhancing nurses’ practices and the overall quality of EOL services. These findings highlight the need for strategies to increase self-efficacy and negotiate regulations to improve care delivery. The rationale for this article is that it focuses on specific factors that influence nursing practice in the palliative care context. Thus, understanding these relationships is essential to designing effective interventions to enhance nursing practices and improve patient outcomes.

Learnings from the Research

From researching and developing annotated bibliographies on palliative and EOL care, several key insights emerged. Firstly, ethical principles play a crucial role in guiding clinical decision-making in EOL care, ensuring that decisions uphold patient autonomy, dignity, and overall well-being (Akdeniz et al., 2021). Understanding these principles helps healthcare professionals mitigate complex ethical dilemmas and improve care quality. Secondly, the development of standardized palliative care guidelines highlights the need for context-specific adaptations of international standards to address practice lapses and enhance the quality of care in resource-constrained settings (Hashmi et al., 2024).

Tailored guidelines can improve the relevance and applicability of palliative care practices. The research also revealed significant obstacles and enables in accessing palliative care in rural areas. Addressing these barriers and up-leveling facilitators is crucial for improving service access and reducing disparities (Lalani & Cai, 2022). Finally, the study on palliative care practices among nurses underscores the importance of improving factors that influence nursing practices through targeted interventions to enhance overall care quality and patient outcomes at the terminal stage of their lives (Xu et al., 2023). These sources collectively enhanced my knowledge of improving palliative care, making it accessible to underserved populations, navigating ethical complexities in EOL care, and enhancing nursing practices to improve palliative care across different contexts.

References

Akdeniz, M., Yardımcı, B., & Kavukcu, E. (2021). Ethical considerations at the end-of-life care. SAGE Open Medicine, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121211000918

Cotton, A., Sayers, J., Green, H., Magann, L., Paulik, O., Sikhosana, N., Fernandez, R., & Foster, J. (2024). Older persons’ perceptions and experiences of community palliative care: A systematic review of qualitative evidence. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 22(2), 234. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-22-00353

Capella 4000 Assessment 2 Applying Research Skills

Nacak, U. A., & Erden, Y. (2023). End-of-life care and nurse’s roles. The Eurasian Journal of Medicine, 54(Supp1), S141–S144. https://doi.org/10.5152/eurasianjmed.2022.22324

Nakayama, K., Yonekura, Y., Danya, H., & Hagiwara, K. (2022). Associations between health literacy and information-evaluation and decision-making skills in Japanese adults. BioMed Central Public Health, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13892-5