Improving Care for the End of Life: A sourcebook for health care managers and clinicians - Hardcover

If you are responsible for clinical care in a palliative care organization or ward, you don't need to read this review. Just buy the book and get started! As with the first edition, this book is immensely practical. It has an infectious energy that leaves you wanting to get out and do something - by next Tuesday! This book belongs on the library shelf in every palliative care organization, but I doubt it will gather much dust! (Roger Woodruff)

This book would be most helpful not only to those in end-of-life care looking for ways to enhance and improve existing programs, but also for those who are creating programs in palliative care or hospice. Nurse managers, administrators of home care and hospice agencies, and medical directors will find real guidance. (Doody's Notes)

Health care professionals seeking to improve the quality of life for those living with serious illness and nearing the end of life will find exactly what their organization needs in the second edition of this acclaimed book by Dr. Joanne Lynn and her colleagues. Improving Care for the End of Life provides expert guidance on how to make significant improvements now, at all levels of the health care system from the bedside and the hospital to the health care policy and legislative arenas by using the rapid-cycle breakthrough approach to change. The ideas are proven, and the stories of teams that have put them to use will inspire and enlighten.

New to the second edition:
BL New chapters to address issues of growing interest such as continuity of care, and the special needs of dementia patients and their loved ones
BL Details on trajectories of care and how these affect decisions at the end of life
BL Updated and expanded information on pain management, advance care planning, ventilator withdrawal, depression and delirium, advanced heart and lung disease, and more
BL Scores of new insights, measurement approaches, and tips based on the experiences of hundreds of improvement teams nationwide
BL Thoroughly updated references

The sourcebook speaks to all managers of health care systems serving people with serious illnesses, including doctors in offices, nurse managers on hospital units, social workers in long-term care facilities, administrators of home care and hospice agencies, hospital chaplains, directors of volunteer services, and others.