Evaluation of Palliative Care Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department

INTRODUCTION: Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach that should be applied to relieve the remaining physical, social, psychological and mental problems of the patients who have a progressive and untreatable disease to live the remaining time comfortably. Our aim is to examine the patients, who are in need of palliative care and admitted to the emergency department, to determine the diagnosis of the patients, the reasons of applications to the emergency services and to show how the emergency services can contribute to the solution of the complaints of palliative care patients.
METHODS: In accordance with this purpose, 184 patients who were admitted to Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital Emergency Medicine Clinic between January 2017 and March 2018 and who needed palliative care as a result of the evaluations were included in the study. The aim of this retrospective study was to provide a more effective and accurate approach to palliative care patients who applied to the emergency department.
RESULTS: Palliative care patients, many of whom are dependent on another person, when they are considered to be in need of urgent care and symptomatic treatment, should be treated with care and attention in small palliative care units of the emergency services.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: To provide better palliative care, we can determine palliative care as a new side of the emergency department. In addition, opening a palliative care policlinic in the emergency department and increasing the quotas of palliative care services can be evaluated for this purpose.