Advance care planning for patients with inoperable lung cancer.

AIM

To develop and pilot an advance care planning (ACP) intervention for lung cancer nurses to use in discussing end-of-life preferences and choices for care with patients diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.

DESIGN

A prospective qualitative design with semistructured individual patient interviews. A grounded theory approach was used for the analysis.

SAMPLE

Fifteen patients took part in ACP discussions with their nurse and nine agreed to be interviewed by a researcher about their perceptions of the intervention.

RESULTS

Patients' reactions to the ACP process varied, but they welcomed the recording of their wishes and appreciated the courage of the nurses in bringing up the subject of future care.

CONCLUSION

This study explored the role of ACP as a method of enabling patient choice for lung cancer patients in the UK. Further research is needed to determine the components of ACP and the training needs of staff.