AI Article Synopsis
- The study examined factors that influence whether older patients in nursing homes are transferred to hospitals at the end of life, amidst an expected increase in this population in France.
- Out of 680 nursing homes surveyed in the Rhône-Alpes region, 68% responded, revealing that many facilities had palliative care programs and a coordinating physician, with 19 deaths on average per home each year.
- Findings highlighted that nursing homes with night shift nurses were more likely to have deaths occur on-site rather than in hospitals, suggesting that having night staff may reduce emergency transfers in end-of-life care.
Article Abstract
Background: French demographic projection expects an increasing number of older, dependent patients in the next few years. A large proportion of this population lives in nursing homes and their transfer to hospitals at the end of life is an ongoing issue.
Objective: This study explored the factors influencing the transfer of patients living in nursing homes to hospital at the end of life.
Design: We used a mixed-methods questionnaire developed by an expert group and assessing different characteristics of the nursing homes.
Participants: All the nursing homes in the Rhône-Alpes area (n=680) were surveyed.
Results: We obtained 466 (68%) answers. We found that a palliative care programme was present in 336 (72%) nursing homes. The majority had a coordinating physician 428 (82%) and a mean number of 6 nurses for 83 beds, with 83 (18%) having a night shift nurse. There was a mean number of 19 deaths per nursing home during the recorded year. The main cause of death was dementia (41%), cancer-related death (13%). Death occurred mostly in the nursing home (14 74%). Night shift nurse attendance was significantly associated with the place of death: 27 deaths occurred in nursing homes with a night shift nurse versus 12 in those without one (p<0001).
Conclusions: The location of the death of frail elderly patients is a major health issue that needs to be addressed. Our results suggests that the presence of a night shift nurse decreases the number of emergency transfers and deaths in the hospital.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001832 | DOI Listing |
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