Implications for improving health care quality and patient safety of palliative residents in nursing homes: A qualitative study

Introduction: Despite the increasing importance of palliative care, the implementation of professional and ethical quality standards appears to be challenging for nursing homes, leading to different levels of palliative care between facilities. This study aims to examine the concrete problem areas of palliative care in everyday practice and to discover what is needed to improve health care quality and patient safety of palliative residents in nursing homes from different perspectives.Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 14 employees and managers of two nursing homes in urban and rural areas in North Rhine-Westphalia were conducted and analyzed according to Mayring's qualitative content analysis. Additionally, characteristics of ideal-typical palliative care in nursing homes were identified from different perspectives through interdisciplinary focus groups of various involved professions.Results: Due to a lack of structural and organizational guidelines, processes of palliative care are based on subjective actions of the staff, which leads to uncertainties and differences in the management of palliative care for nursing home residents. Besides limited time resources for care and support of residents at their end of life, this represents a major stress factor for employees. In the focus groups, characteristics of ideal-typical palliative care in the everyday practice of palliative care were identified. In terms of potential for optimization, palliative care pathways are seen as one way to contribute to creating a framework for palliative processes which at the same time leaves room for professional decisions in individual cases.Discussion: It seems likely that inconsistencies in the management of palliative care processes can also be found in other nursing homes. Indications of this include the low proportion of residents with identified palliative care needs and the lack of use of assessments to identify palliative needs and to monitor typical palliative symptoms. At the same time, it must be taken into account that the last phase of life is characterised by individuality, which cannot and should not be standardised. In palliative care practice, professional perceptions and empirical knowledge are well needed. Nevertheless, in terms of quality of care, these should not be the sole basis for palliative action.Conclusion: Different levels of palliative care and employees' uncertainties indicate that palliative care practice in nursing homes requires a framework that helps staff to act more confidently and yet leaves room for professional action and decision-making in individual cases.