Jiayun Xu

Symptom frequency, severity, and quality of life among persons with three disease trajectories: cancer, ALS, and CHF

PURPOSE National reports on end-of-life symptom management reveal a gap in the evidence regarding symptoms other than pain and studies of diseases other than cancer. This study examines the frequency and severity of symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in persons with advanced cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and congestive heart failure (CHF). METHODS The present study is a cross-sectional examination of symptoms and QOL measured using the McGill QOL Questionnaire, among 147 participants. RESULTS Forty one percent of participants had advanced cancer, 22% had ALS, and 37% had advanced CHF. A total of 266 symptoms were reported, with the common symptom categories being discomfort/pain, weakness/fatigue/sleep, and respiratory. Participants with CHF had the highest mean symptom severity and the lowest QOL. CONCLUSION Clinicians should be aware and attentive for symptoms other than pain in patients with advanced illness. Studies on diseases other than cancer, such as CHF and ALS, are important to improve symptom management in all disease groups.

Caregiver, patient, and nurse visit communication patterns in cancer home hospice

Few studies have examined the triadic communication between patients, spouse caregivers, and nurses in the home hospice setting. Thus, little is known about the types of communication patterns that unfold. The goals of the study were to, first, identify common patterns of communication in nurse‐patient‐caregiver home hospice visits and, second, to identify nurse, caregiver‐patient dyad, and visit characteristics that predict visit communication patterns.

Nutritional Interventions in Heart Failure: A Systematic Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) is a major health care burden and there is a growing need to develop strategies to maintain health and sustain quality of life in persons with HF. The purpose of this review is to critically appraise the components of nutrition interventions and to establish an evidence base for future advances in HF nutrition research and practice. METHODS AND RESULTS Cinahl, Pubmed, and Embase were searched to identify articles published from 2005 to 2015. A total of 17 randomized controlled trials were included in this review. Results were divided into 2 categories of nutrition-related interventions: (1) educational and (2) prescriptive. Educational interventions improved patient outcomes such as adherence to dietary restriction in urine sodium levels and self-reported diet recall. Educational and prescriptive interventions resulted in decreased readmission rates and patient deterioration. Adherence measurement was subjective in many studies. Evidence showed that a normal-sodium diet and 1-liter fluid restriction along with high diuretic dosing enhanced B-type natriuretic peptide, aldosterone, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin-6 markers. CONCLUSIONS Educational nutrition interventions positively affect patient clinical outcomes. Although clinical practice guidelines support a low-sodium diet and fluid restriction, research findings have revealed that a low-sodium diet may be harmful. Future research should examine the role of macronutrients, food quality, and energy balance in HF nutrition.

Supporting home hospice family caregivers: Insights from different perspectives

ABSTRACTObjective:Our intention was to describe and compare the perspectives of national hospice thought leaders, hospice nurses, and former family caregivers on factors that promote or threaten family caregiver perceptions of support. METHOD Nationally recognized hospice thought leaders (n = 11), hospice nurses (n = 13), and former family caregivers (n = 14) participated. Interviews and focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed. Data were coded inductively, and codes were hierarchically grouped by topic. Emergent categories were summarized descriptively and compared across groups. RESULTS Four categories linked responses from the three participant groups (95%, 366/384 codes): (1) essentials of skilled communication (30.6%), (2) importance of building authentic relationships (28%), (3) value of expert teaching (22.4%), and (4) critical role of teamwork (18.3%). The thought leaders emphasized communication (44.6%), caregivers stressed expert teaching (51%), and nurses highlighted teamwork (35.8%). Nurses discussed teamwork significantly more than caregivers (z = 2.2786), thought leaders discussed communication more than caregivers (z = 2.8551), and caregivers discussed expert teaching more than thought leaders (z = 2.1693) and nurses (z = 2.4718; all values of p < 0.05). SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS Our findings suggest differences in priorities for caregiver support across family caregivers, hospice nurses, and thought leaders. Hospice teams may benefit from further education and training to help cross the schism of family-centered hospice care as a clinical ideal to one where hospice team members can fully support and empower family caregivers as a hospice team member.

Positive emotion communication: Fostering well-being at end of life

OBJECTIVE Little is known about positive emotion communication (PEC) in end-of-life care. This study aims to identify types and patterns of PEC among hospice nurses, caregivers, and patients. METHODS A coding system based on positive psychology theory was applied as a secondary analysis to audio recordings of hospice nurse home visits with cancer patients and family caregivers, collected as part of a prospective longitudinal study. Eighty recordings (4 visits from 20 triads) were coded for humor, connection, praise, positive focus, gratitude, taking joy/savoring, and perfunctory statements. RESULTS Descriptive statistics revealed the greatest proportion of PEC was made by nurses. Humor was most frequently used across all speakers. Cluster analysis revealed four PEC visit types: Savor/Take Joy; Humor; Perfunctory; and Other-focused Expressions of Positive Emotions. Linear mixed effect regression was used to estimate the trajectory of PEC over time, but no significant change was found. CONCLUSION We found that positive emotions are common in nurse, caregiver and patient communication at end-of-life and do not decline closer to death. PRACTICE IMPLICATION This study is among the first to explore PEC at end-of-life, and offers a way to bring strengths-based approaches into end of life communication research.

Heart Failure Rehospitalization and Delayed Decision Making: The Impact of Self-care and Depression

Background: Rehospitalization soon after discharge can be distressing for persons with heart failure (HF) and places a heavy burden on the healthcare system. Objective: We investigated and explored the association of self-care decision making variables with (1) rehospitalization within 30 days of discharge and (2) delay in seeking medical assistance (delayed decision making). Methods: A cross-sectional, explanatory sequential mixed methods design (quan > qual) was used to survey 127 hospitalized HF patients and interview 15 of these participants to explain their survey responses. The survey assessed rehospitalization within 30 days of discharge, delayed decision making, HF self-care, and psychosocial factors influencing self-care. Results: The likelihood of delaying the decision to be hospitalized was more than 5 times higher among those with high depressive symptoms (odds ratio, 5.33; 95% confidence interval, 2.14–13.28). Those who delayed going to the hospital were uncertain about their prognosis and did not feel their symptoms were urgent. The likelihood of being rehospitalized within 30 days was more than doubled among those with high depressive symptoms (OR, 2.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–5.31). Those who were rehospitalized within 30 days were less likely to consult healthcare professionals in their decision making and wanted immediate relief from their symptoms. Conclusions: We recommend a patient-centered approach to help HF patients identify and adequately self-manage symptoms. The strong association between high depressive symptoms and rehospitalization within 30 days as well as delayed decision making highlights the critical need for clinicians to carefully assess and address depression among HF patients.

Mentored peer reviewing for PhD faculty and students

There is a need for scholars to be prepared as peer reviewers in order to ensure the continual publication of quality science. However, developing the skills to craft a constructive critique can be difficult. In this commentary, we discuss the use of a group peer review mentoring model for PhD students to gain experience in peer review from a faculty member who is experienced in peer review. Central to this model, was the opportunity for each student and faculty mentor to openly discuss their critique of the manuscript. Through this enriching experience, novice researchers were able to learn the elements of a good peer review, better determine a manuscripts substantive contribution to science, and advance the quality of their own manuscript writing.

Nursing's role in leading palliative care: A call to action

Palliative care aims to alleviate the suffering of patients with life-limiting illness while promoting their quality of life. In this call to action commentary, we review the ways in which nursing care and palliative care align, describe barriers to nurses engaging in palliative care, and provide specific recommendations for nurses involved in education, training, and administration to assist nurses at all levels of practice to engage in palliative care for their patients.

Using Social Network Analysis to Investigate Positive EOL Communication

CONTEXT End-of-life (EOL) communication is a complex process involving the whole family and multiple care providers. Applications of analysis techniques that account for communication beyond the patient and patient/provider will improve clinical understanding of EOL communication. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study were to introduce the use of social network analysis to EOL communication data and to provide an example of applying social network analysis to home hospice interactions. METHODS We provide a description of social network analysis to model communication patterns during home hospice nursing visits. We describe three social network attributes (i.e., magnitude, directionality, and reciprocity) in the expression of positive emotion among hospice nurses, family caregivers, and hospice cancer patients. Differences in communication structure by primary family caregiver across gender and time were also examined. RESULTS Magnitude (frequency) in the expression of positive emotion occurred most often between nurses and caregivers or between nurses and patients. Female caregivers directed more positive emotion to nurses, and nurses directed more positive emotion to other family caregivers when the primary family caregiver was male. Reciprocity (mutuality) in positive emotion declined toward day of death but increased on day of actual patient death. There was a variation in reciprocity by the type of positive emotion expressed. CONCLUSION Our example demonstrates that social network analysis can be used to better understand the process of EOL communication. Social network analysis can be expanded to other areas of EOL research, such as EOL decision making and health care teamwork.

Theories of Health Care Decision Making at the End of Life: A Meta-Ethnography

The aim of this meta-ethnography is to appraise the types and uses of theories relative to end-of-life decision making and to develop a conceptual framework to describe end-of-life decision making among patients with advanced cancers, heart failure, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers or providers. We used PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases to extract English-language articles published between January 2002 and April 2015. Forty-three articles were included. The most common theories included decision-making models (n = 14) followed by family-centered (n = 11) and behavioral change models (n = 7). A conceptual framework was developed using themes including context of decision making, communication and negotiation of decision making, characteristics of decision makers, goals of decision making, options and alternatives, and outcomes. Future research should enhance and apply these theories to guide research to develop patient-centered decision-making programs that facilitate informed and shared decision making at the end of life among patients with advanced illness and their caregivers.