Palliative Care for Stroke Patient: Moving from Evidence-Based to Practice

Abstract

Evidence is essential aspects among nurses to be able to deliver palliative care in stroke patients. A practical evidence-based would assist nurses in pinpointing care strategies to relief distress as well as enhancing quality of life among stroke patients. Although nurses have been utilized existing evidence-based in practice, the limitations of these evidence are found such as lacking body of knowledge or specific practical guidelines, lacking of conformity between the evidence and organizational culture, and depreciating in palliative care among nurses. This article presents a set of guidelines and roles for nurses caring for palliative care stroke patients. Developed using empirical evidence, these guidelines and roles pertain to the following 9 categories of nursing guidelines to provide palliative care for stoke patients including (1) ethics and patient right, (2) care planning and goal setting, (3) information and counselling, (4) physical care, (5) psychological and emotional care, (6) psychosocial and spiritual care, (7) continuity of care, (8) end of life care, and (9) human resources development and service system. To be able to provide holistic care for this population, it is essential that nurses should utilize these empirical evidences in practice to improve quality of nursing care in accordance with international standard.