RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To narrate the canon of knowledge around symptom control at end of life for patients using, or having recently used, non-invasive advanced respiratory support (NARS) at end of life for respiratory failure. METHODS: A systematic review forming a narrative synthesis from a wide range of sample papers from Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Emcare, Cochrane and OpenGrey databases. A secondary search of grey literature was also performed with hand searching reference lists and author citations. The review was undertaken using the ENTREQ checklist for quality. RESULTS: In total, 22 studies were included in the synthesis and four themes were generated: NARS as a buoy (NARS can represent hope and relief from the symptoms of respiratory failure), NARS as an anchor (NARS brings significant treatment burden), Impact on Staff (uncertainty over the balance of benefit and burden as well as complex patient care drives distress among staff providing care) and the Process of Withdrawal (withdrawal of therapy felt to be futile exists as discrete event in patient care but is otherwise poorly defined). CONCLUSION: NARS represents a complex interplay of hope, symptom control, unnaturally prolonged death and treatment burden. The literature captures the breadth of these issues, but further, detailed, research is required in almost every aspect of practice around end-of-life care and NARS-especially how to manage symptoms at the end of life.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To explore the experiences of healthcare workers providing non-invasive advanced respiratory support (NARS) to critically unwell patients with COVID-19. DESIGN: A qualitative study drawing on a social constructionist perspective using thematic analysis of semistructured interviews. SETTING: A single acute UK National Health Service Trust across two hospital sites. PARTICIPANTS: Multidisciplinary team members in acute, respiratory and palliative medicine. RESULTS: 21 nurses, doctors (juniors and consultants) and physiotherapists described the provision of NARS to critically unwell COVID-19 patients as extremely challenging. The main themes were of feeling ill prepared and unsupported, a need to balance complex moral actions and a sense of duty to patients and their families. The impact on staff was profound and findings are discussed via a lens of moral injury. Injurious events included staff feeling they had acted in a way that caused harm, failed to prevent harm or had been let down by seniors or the Trust. Participants identified factors that mitigated adverse impact. CONCLUSIONS: Although many of the issues described by participants are likely immutable components of healthcare in a pandemic, there were several important protective factors that emerged from the data. Experience, debriefing and breaks from COVID-19 wards were valuable to participants and successfully achieving a peaceful death for the patient was often viewed as compensation for a difficult journey. These protective factors may provide modelling for future education and support services to help prevent moral injury or aide in its recovery. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Registered on the Open Science Framework, DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/TB5QJ.
