Oklahoma hospital addresses EOL in facility
Palliative care, case managers handle
When Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City began looking at implementing palliative care and end-of-life services, the case management department was the appropriate place to start, says Anita Bell, RN, MEd CHPN, palliative care coordinator at the 508-bed facility.
"There are so many similarities between palliative care and case management," Bell says. "Hospital case managers are constantly challenged to decrease the utilization of hospital resources and length of stay while maintaining quality care. Studies have shown that palliative care can decrease the cost of hospitalization and improve a patient's quality of life by advocating for care in the most appropriate setting."
In addition to Bell, the palliative care team includes a chaplain, the medical director, a social worker, a pharmacist, and a nurse who does healing touch. "We've done some research, and healing touch has been able to show a decrease in pain and anxiety," Bell says.
The team is assisted by volunteers who handle data entry and make comfort care shawls that the palliative care team or nurse give to patients or family members, depending on the situation.
Case managers can see the big picture within the hospital and often are the first clinicians who identify patients who might benefit from palliative care services, Bell says. "Because of the case managers' focus on setting goals with the family, educating them, and looking at their discharge needs, they are instrumental in making sure we meet with patients and families who need palliative care services," she adds.
Palliative care and case management have mutual goals: decreasing length of stay and ensuring that patients receive the care they need at the right place in the continuum, Bell says. "Many times when patients have problems with pain or symptom management, they have a longer length of stay as the hospital staff try to get the problem under control," she says. "Palliative care helps with pain and symptom management, which can improve patient throughput and length of stay in the hospital."
Case managers often call in the palliative care team for help in working with patients and family members to understand their options and to set goals of care for the patient, Bell adds. "The case managers will say to me that the physicians have talked to the patient and family, but they need more help understanding how ill the patient is and options for care," she says. "The palliative care team can go in with the doctor's permission and help educate the family and support them as they make choices."
Patients who could benefit from a palliative care consultation often are identified during discharge planning rounds, says Suzanne Creekmore, RN, CCM, case manager for the med/surg intensive care unit and the intermediate care unit. The discharge planning rounds in the ICU are attended by the case manager; the social worker; the nurse taking care of the patient; the chaplain; the ICU clinical director; the palliative care coordinator; and representatives from dietary, pharmacy, and other disciplines and departments if needed.
The team goes through each patient, one by one, starting with the diagnosis, the family support, and the goals for the day, along with individual details such as use of pain medication, ventilator length of stay, psychosocial or family issues. The team discusses the plan of care and the discharge plan and looks at options if the patient isn't able to go home. For example, if a patient has a stroke, is not responding, and isn't likely to recover, the team might call in Bell to help the family through the grieving process.
She also might be called in if patients have a lot of pain that isn't being controlled with IV pain medication. Creekmore says, "We want to help the patients have better control of their pain for whatever time they have left, whether it's a matter of months or years. Some patients aren't ready for hospice and want to keep treatment going, but their quality of life will be better if their pain is under control."
The case managers often call for a palliative care consultation for people who have chronic diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, who are not necessarily at the end of the life but are getting worse. In those cases, Bell helps them get advance directives in place before they get really sick, Creekmore says. "We want to bring the palliative care team in as early as possible to help educate the patient and family members of their options for palliative care and comfort care," she says. "Our goal is to get the process started sooner so we can help the patient and family make the appropriate choices at the appropriate time."
Bell gives the unit an extra set of eyes to help determine the best discharge plan for the patient, Creekmore says. "Her expertise can help us determine if it would be appropriate for us to discharge the patient to hospice or if he should stay in the hospital and receive hospice care here," she says. "She helps us determine how best to approach the family and comfort them."
When a physician orders a palliative care consult, the case manager and the social worker on the unit accompany Bell as she visits with the patient and family members. But once Bell gets involved, Creekmore limits her visits with the family. "If too many people are involved in an emotional situation, it gets to be too much for the family," Creekmore says. "Once Anita takes over, I back off and go in and talk to the family every day."
When she is called in on a consultation, Bell works with the chaplain, the social worker, the case manager, and physicians to look at pain and symptom management, develop goals of care, help the family do advance care planning, and to support the patient and family if they decide to withdraw lifesaving treatment, move to hospice care, or continue aggressive treatment. The team can call on a palliative care-certified physician who can meet with patients and help them understand their options. "When people are in the ICU, so many things are being done for them. The case managers often hear that the patient never wanted that," Bell says. "They call the palliative care team in to talk with the family and clarify the goal of care and what the person wanted."
In addition to Bell and the palliative care team, the hospital established the position of palliative care resource nurse on most of the units. The nurses have other nursing duties but have participated in training on palliative care, keep up with current literature on the subject, and know what resources are available. The palliative care resource nurses are an added level of expertise on the unit level and are able to identify patients who have more complex needs than what the regular staff can provide and who could benefit from a palliative care consultation, Bell says.
"When families are struggling with trying to make decisions, the palliative care resource nurse knows where to find the information they need," she says. "They have a higher training and competency than the rest of the staff. If the family needs more help, they may ask the doctor to ask for a palliative care consultation."
Before there was a formal process, most of the family consultations on palliative care and end-of-life issues were done by the social worker or the hospice team was called in, Creekmore says.
"The palliative care team is a wonderful resource that can supplement communication and education provided by the treatment team and help the patients and family members understand their options," she says. "Heath care is so fragmented, and patients and families are often overwhelmed with the disease process. All of us want to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for our patients and family members."
When Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City began looking at implementing palliative care and end-of-life services, the case management department was the appropriate place to start, says Anita Bell, RN, MEd CHPN, palliative care coordinator at the 508-bed facility.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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