Description

The ultimate goal of Palliative Care (PC) is to avoid and ease suffering before, during, and after death for patients and their families. PC programs can help by demonstrating their effectiveness and efficiency with regular systematic measurement and evaluation of its processes and outcomes. The PC program at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) formalized a study to evaluate family member satisfaction of those who received care by the PC Service. After receiving approval by the institutional review board for the protection of human subjects, family members of patients who died between May 2008 and March 2009 at SLEH received a card about the study one month after the patient’s death. Data collectors telephoned the family member three months later. The questionnaire consists of 11 items and has a standardized Cronbach's alpha of .97. Of 106 research participants whose deceased relative had received PC service, 64 acknowledged receipt of the service and 42 denied receipt of the service.

Summary of the results/What Worked and Why

The majority of participants (n=64) expressed utmost satisfaction with the care provided to the patient and the family member by the PC Service. For example, 87.7% gave the highest possible score for care provided by the PC Service. These positive satisfaction scores maybe a result of

1. Emphasizing the role of supporting and supplementing physicians and staff nurse’s desire to provide best practice care
2. Empowering healthcare practitioners as extensions of the team
3. Assuring a collegial and collaborative atmosphere among all healthcare providers.
4. Offering superior communication among patients, family members, and healthcare providers