Nurses Help Dying Patients But Omit Hospice Care The growing hospice movement in the United States aims to improve quality of life for those who are terminally ill by addressing the patient's pain, spiritual needs and other important end-of-life issues. But according to a recent report, many nurses do not even mention hospice care to terminally ill patients or their families because they don't feel they know enough about this type of care. Such care can be conducted either at home or in special facilities. Dr. Elizabeth H. Bradley of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues surveyed 180 full-time nurses at six hospitals about their care of terminally ill patients. The nurses completed questionnaires about their use of palliative care, which is meant not to cure but to make a dying patient more comfortable, and about whether they discussed hospice care. Almost 90% of the nurses reported that they used palliative care practices with their dying patients, for example, listening to their concerns and making sure they received adequate pain medication. More than half of the nurses, however, said that they did not discuss hospice with any of their dying patients, and more than one-third said they did not talk about it with the patients' families either. And more than 26% of the nurses reported that they did not discuss the dying patients' prognosis. Thanks to Reuters Health. with them. Jerry Guy, posted January 2008 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.