Emergency Supportive and Palliative Care: A Comprehensive Guide

Author: David Currow

Publication Date: January 25, 2024

ISBN: 9780192898333, 9780192653352

Language: English

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Summary: This second edition of the book provides a practical, accessible guide to emergency situations encountered in the practice of supportive and palliative care. It is designed for rapid use and addresses the immediate clinical challenges while more definitive measures are being put in place.

Content Overview: The book is structured around frequently encountered symptoms and is split into two sections. The first section explores how patients with life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, and end-stage organ failure normally present, and looks at the reversibility of their condition. The second section provides a detailed approach to specific clinical conditions, and is for use once the clinical diagnosis has been reached on the basis of the presenting symptoms.

Target Audience: Trainees in palliative medicine, nurses, family doctors, and other allied health professionals will find this book to be a valuable resource for the emergency care of people requiring supportive and palliative care. It complements and cross-refers to the Oxford Handbook of Palliative Care.

Key Features: The book uses three categories (terminal, deteriorating, and stable) to guide the decision-making process, considering how the patient’s needs are changing as their disease progresses. A new chapter ‘Care at the end of life’ outlines good clinical care for the last hours days of life when the diagnosis of dying has been actively made.