Reinventing Palliative Care Delivery in the Era of COVID-19: How Telemedicine Can Support End of Life Care.
Katherine C Ritchey, Alice Foy, Erin McArdel and 1 others
PMID 32762477WHAT IT FOUND
Tablet video visits let families see and talk with a dying inpatient, and staff described the encounter as intimate and helpful.
This was a single case at a VA hospital, so it shows a way to connect, not proof.
Key findings
01A palliative care team developed a standard operating procedure and trained staff to use tablets for inpatient end-of-life consultations and family video visits.
02In the patient’s ICU care, family members used tablet video visits with bedside staff, and the family felt connected and able to say goodbye.
03Staff debriefs described the video visits as intimate and rewarding, and the team reported successful deployment of video telehealth for inpatient end-of-life care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a single patient case and a local quality improvement rollout, not a controlled study, so it cannot show that telehealth caused better end-of-life care. Family and staff satisfaction came from debriefs and the authors' own service, not from measured outcomes. Several things happened at once: tablets, training, chaplain care, nursing care, touch, family stories, and spiritual care, so the effect of any one part cannot be separated. The setting was a Veterans Affairs hospital during pandemic restrictions, so it may not apply elsewhere. The paper did not report how many patients or families used the service, or what happened when technology failed.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest and received no financial support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that palliative telehealth improves end-of-life care or family outcomes. It describes a single patient and a local quality improvement rollout, with satisfaction reported by family and staff, not a controlled comparison.