For patients with cancer and their caregivers, high quality end-of-life care is incredibly important, as one expert explained.
“There has been a fair amount of research done that has shown that when patients do not receive what is considered quality end of life care ... not only are there poor patient outcomes � so patients usually tend to have more of a prolonged death, oftentimes they experience more pain, etc. � but it is also usually more traumatic for the caregivers,� said Sara Douglas, the Gertrude Perkins Oliva Professor in oncology nursing at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland.
“There's a higher incidence of regret post-death among caregivers, higher incidence of depression and, in some cases, higher incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, again, depending upon the circumstances,� Douglas told CURE. “And so, there's been a fair amount of research that has shown that poor-quality patient care at end of life has a negative impact not only on the patient, but obviously on the caregiver who survives and then lives with the decisions that were made at the end of life.�