Improving The Comfort Of Nurses Caring For Stroke Patients At The End Of Life

Background: End-of-life care of stroke patients is an important aspect of stroke care. It has been previously reported that nurses express discomfort caring for patients at the end of life or caring for patients who have suffered severe strokes. Nurses at our centre expressed similar discomfort. Aim: To improve the comfort of nurses caring for patients at the end of life after stroke. Design: Nurses were asked to rate their comfort with treating patients at the end of life using the Stroke End-of-Life Care Comfort Scale before and after attending an education session. The education sessions included the presentation of a checklist for suggested orders for end-of-life care. Setting/participants: The project was conducted with the neurosciences nurses at a tertiary care hospital. 54 out of a possible 122 nurses attended an education session. Results: There was a significant improvement in the Stroke End-of-Life Care Comfort Scale score (p=0.00004) 3-4 weeks after the education session compared to the score before the session. Conclusions: The combination of focused education sessions and an order checklist can significantly improve the comfort of nurses caring for patients at the end-of-life after stroke.