Introducing an End of Life Care Pathway to Your Setting
There are many considerations to explore before deciding to introduce an end of life care pathway in your setting. A staged, carefully planned and well-resourced approach is considered important to the successful implementation of an end of life care pathway. The introduction of a new resource often requires a considerable multi-disciplinary education program enabling a change in prescribing and care practices.
Considerations include:
- Identifying the aims of goals of the initial pilot introduction
- Identifying an appropriate pilot setting
- Ongoing in principal support of the executive committee
- Adequate allocation of resources to plan and develop the education, implementation and maintenance strategies including resources directed to assessing pre- and post-audits
- Adequate allocation of resources to facilitate a multi-disciplinary educational program including pre- and post-education audits
- Ongoing onsite support during the initial implementation phase to build awareness, support staffs, monitor progress and record variances
- Ongoing senior/enthusiastic medical support to aid clinical care directives and decision-making at the ward level.
Possible barriers to implementation:
- Difficulties of sustainability if the introduction/implementation is unsupported by the executive and senior staff
- Compliance with the pathway requires a change in organisational culture
- Lack of communication among decision-makers and ward staffs
- Failure to recognise treatment futility
- Failure to implement an end of life care pathway in a timely manner.
