References
Advance care planning
This article provides an overview of advance care planning (ACP), discusses why ACP is important, highlights the barriers to having conversations and discusses the role of the nurse in supporting patients with ACP.
Around half a million people die each year, and about three quarters of these deaths are expected (NHS Improving Quality, 2014). There is, therefore, the potential to improve how the care of people is managed in the final year, months or days of their life. The End of Life Care Strategy (Department of Health (DH), 2008) highlighted that, although individuals may have a differing opinion of what constitutes a good death, for many this would involve being treated as an individual, with respect and dignity, being free of pain and other distressing symptom, being in familiar surroundings and having close friends and family close by. However, the report goes on to suggest that, despite the fact that some people do achieve a good death, this is not the reality for many.
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