For Gold Coast Health Emergency Nurse Practitioner Lucy Tripp, the idea behind her latest research grew from working on both sides of the patient journey, in specialist palliative care and emergency care.
Lucy received the Kellie Furey Memorial Research Grant through Round 45 of EMF’s Queensland Research Program for a project aiming to improve emergency care for people with palliative care needs.
Patients living with a life-limiting illness may come to an emergency department (ED) because their symptoms are not controlled, they are struggling at home or they do not have an adequate care plan in place. Having worked across emergency and specialist palliative care, Lucy has seen how frequently the two areas intersect.
While working with the Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) team across residential aged care facilities on the Gold Coast, Lucy heard directly from residents and families about their experiences of emergency care.
“Residents and their families told us that admissions to ED could be very traumatic and often did not improve their quality of life,” Lucy said.
“Those discussions led to advance care planning and ensuring residents could be comfortable and die in their place of choice. I knew we could do more from the ED side of treatment to ensure these residents had more options that aligned with their goals of care.”
The project will take place at Gold Coast University Hospital and Robina Hospital and will explore what a model of emergency care for patients with palliative care needs should include and how it could work in practice.
Rather than replacing specialist palliative care, the model aims to support ED clinicians to recognise patients with palliative care needs, respond to their immediate care needs and connect them with appropriate services where necessary.
The research will hear directly from patients and families about their experiences of presenting to an ED, as well as ED clinicians through interviews and focus groups.
These insights will inform co-design workshops involving consumers, clinicians and other health service stakeholders, using patient journey mapping to identify the key components of the new model of care and the barriers and enablers to its implementation.
“The best way to improve the model of care is by involving patients and their families and learning from their lived experience, both positive and negative,” Lucy said.
“The consumers are at the centre of this research, and our hope is that the new model of care will be designed by them with the support of clinicians.”
Ultimately, Lucy hopes the research will improve the experience of patients with palliative care needs when they attend an ED and give clinicians greater support to respond to their needs and connect them with appropriate services.
“We get one opportunity at end of life to honour a patient’s wishes and ensure they feel supported and heard in their treatment goals,” she said.
“I hope this project will give clinicians the support and tools to support patients and their families.”
As the project gets underway, Lucy is looking forward to working with the research team, including her mentor Associate Professor Kristen Ranse, and beginning to hear directly from consumers about their experiences.
“I’m most excited to start hearing the real stories and feedback from consumers so we can improve patients’ journeys.”
Learn more about the projects funded through Round 45 of EMF’s Queensland Research Program here.
