Palliative care afterhours: a review of a phone support service.
Families caring for a child with incurable cancer require access to support and advice round the clock. In Brisbane, Australia, an after-hours phone service was established to support these families. This service is operated by oncology clinical nurse consultants (CNCs) experienced in pediatric palliative care. This is the first review of 8 years of activity, totaling 106 patients and 1954 calls. The majority of calls were between parents and CNCs (51%). Updating of the patient's condition (18%) was the primary reason for calls, with support and reassurance (16%), and symptom management of pain (10%) being the other frequent reasons. The majority of calls occurred over the weekends in the morning, with only 11% (n = 209) of calls occurring between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am. Of all the calls made, 43% (n = 814) were calls managed by the CNC without requiring further intervention. Calls were received from throughout Queensland, indicating the value of the service in supporting families throughout the state. The after-hours phone service has proven to be a simple, effective, and valuable service, which is consistently accessed by families, regardless of distance from the hospital.
Centre for Online Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. n.bradford@uq.edu.au
Natalie
N
Bradford
Helen
H
Irving
Anthony C
AC
Smith
Lee-Anne
LA
Pedersen
Anthony
A
Herbert
D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000379:methods*; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D012944:Social Support