Conservative Management of COVID-19 Patients—Emergency Palliative Care in Action

Fusi-Schmidhauser, T. and Preston, N.J. and Keller, N. and Gamondi, C. (2020) Conservative Management of COVID-19 Patients—Emergency Palliative Care in Action. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60 (1). e27-e30. ISSN 0885-3924

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Abstract

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the world. Many patients will not be suitable for mechanical ventilation owing to the underlying health conditions, and they will require a conservative approach including palliative care management for their important symptom burden. OBJECTIVES: To develop a management plan for patients who are not suitable for mechanical ventilation that is tailored to the stage their COVID-19 disease. METHODS: Patients were identified as being stable, unstable, or at the end of life using the early warning parameters for COVID-19. Furthermore, a COVID-19-specific assessment tool was developed locally, focusing on key symptoms observed in this population which assess dyspnoea, distress, and discomfort. This tool helped to guide the palliative care management as per patients' disease stage. RESULTS: A management plan for all patients' (stable, unstable, end of life) was created and implemented in acute hospitals. Medication guidelines were based on the limitations in resources and availability of drugs. Staff members who were unfamiliar with palliative care required simple, clear instructions to follow including medications for key symptoms such as dyspnoea, distress, fever, and discomfort. Nursing interventions and family involvement were adapted as per patients' disease stage and infection control requirements. CONCLUSION: Palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic needs to adapt to an emergency style of palliative care as patients can deteriorate rapidly and require quick decisions and clear treatment plans. These need to be easily followed up by generalist staff members caring for these patients. Furthermore, palliative care should be at the forefront to help make the best decisions, give care to families, and offer spiritual support.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60, 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.03.030
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2728
Subjects:
?? covid-19emergencypalliativesymptomsclinical neurologyanesthesiology and pain medicinenursing(all) ??
ID Code:
143705
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
15 May 2020 11:45
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
18 Dec 2023 01:59