title: A Descriptive, Retrospective Study of After-hours Calls in Hospice and Palliative Care.
abstract: AIMS: Few studies have described after-hours calls in hospice patient care. This retrospective study examines the timing of after-hours telephone triage services; the reasons for access to after-hours hospice and palliative care services; and the predominant nursing interventions offered in after-hours calls in hospice and palliative care.  METHODS: A fixed coding scheme was used to code a de-identified after-hours triage phone log of all calls between July 2005 and June 2006 (n=4,434) from a Pennsylvania hospice and palliative care services organization. Descriptive statistics were used to identify call timing pattern, call reasons, and predominant nursing interventions.  RESULTS: Triage services were utilized most frequently to request assistance with signs and symptoms control (25.7%), report death (17.8%), and to request a home visit (15.3%). The top nursing interventions included updating case managers or supervisors about the needs of follow-up (29.5%), coordinating home visits (20.5%), and instructing caregivers or patients on how to control new signs and symptoms (19.8%).  CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of when and why patients and their family caregivers utilize after-hours hospice triage services can assist in the design of future proactive interventions to improve care, and enhance training for new and existing hospice triage nurses.
authors: School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors: Yun
authors: Y
authors: Jiang
authors: Amanda L
authors: AL
authors: Gentry
authors: Margaret
authors: M
authors: Pusateri
authors: Karen L
authors: KL
authors: Courtney