Improving End-of-Life Care in The United States

Ultimately death is enveloped in a mystery, causing occasional pain and coming to everyone. And some may welcome the final result, others may fight it with every ounce of power. For centuries, humans have created a death ritual that brings peace and healing to their loved ones after their death. Death is a social activity in which families and loved ones gather in a dying bed and provide emotional support and comfort. Myths, religions, and traditions combine to give deeper meaning to events and promote the transition of all participants.

How we die at the end of our life, life and care are important and affect individuals, their families and society. According to the report of the Institute of Medical Research (IOM) in 1997, inappropriate hospice care has been reported in the United States (1). Supporting researchers (research on treatment outcome, risk prediction and preference, 2000) agreed (2, 3). Medical and social attention to intervention and treatment is sometimes brought at the expense of good hospice care. For patients and their families, inappropriate treatment at the end of the day can cause physical, mental and economic harm and consumption. Many people are concerned about death. Some patients receive unnecessary treatment at the terminal stage, others do not receive the necessary treatment (4-6). Some hospice concerns are not medically meaningful and need to be solved in other ways.

Such a scenario is not uncommon in ICU, and those who need patient care in the unit not only save lives but also provide expert care at the end of the day. In this article we focus on one aspect of ICU hospice care. Based on recent nursing, medicine and social science studies, I explained ICU's death decisions and proposed a strategy to improve the process of health care providers, patients and patients' families.

The mission of NCP is to create clinical practice guidelines that will improve the quality of palliative care throughout the United States, with a focus on the partnership between institutions and their facilities that help their loved ones make final decisions. This website contains information on institutions and individuals interested in obtaining topics related to quality palliative care. NHF cooperates with the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) to provide caring care during hospice care. Through support to the NHPCO project, NHF will educate and power individuals to fund development resources, tools and information and receive pre-care planning, care, hospice and sorrow services and information.