Sherman Deborah Witt, Cheon Jooyoung
University of Maryland, School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nurs Econ. 2012 May-Jun;30(3):153-62, 166.
Palliative care is poised to become a universally available approach to health care which addresses both the needs of patients and families experiencing serious, progressive, and life-threatening illness, and also the costs of delivering such needed services. Palliative care and hospice are part of a continuum of care with palliative care provided at any time during the illness trajectory, while hospice care is offered at the end of life. Within the context of health care reform, we believe palliative care addresses critical economic imperatives while enhancing quality of life even as death approaches. As leaders in health care, advance practice nurses, specifically, and the nursing community in general are best positioned with the knowledge, expertise, and commitment to advance the specialty of palliative care and lead the way in the reform of America's health care system.
姑息治疗有望成为一种普遍可用的医疗保健方法，它既能满足患有严重、渐进性和危及生命疾病的患者及其家庭的需求，又能解决提供此类所需服务的成本问题。姑息治疗和临终关怀是连续护理的一部分，姑息治疗可在疾病发展过程中的任何时候提供，而临终关怀则在生命末期提供。在医疗保健改革的背景下，我们认为姑息治疗在解决关键经济问题的同时还能提高生活质量，即便死亡临近。作为医疗保健领域的领导者，特别是高级实践护士以及整个护理界，凭借其知识、专业技能和奉献精神最有能力推动姑息治疗专业的发展，并引领美国医疗保健系统的改革。
