Level of nursing care vs life quality of patients in the terminal stage of a disease

Gaworska-Krzemińska A, Książek J, Grabowska H, Zwierzyńska H

A patient whose treatment has been unsuccessful and a  disease still develops enters a terminal stage of the disease which inevitably leads to death. In nursing the evaluation of care quality and measuring its influence on the quality of patients’ life have become enormous challenges and are placed among the most crucial issues. The aim of the research is to evaluate the relationship between the quality of nursing services and the life quality of patients in the terminal stage of a disease. The research activities were carried out in five centres of palliative care, 57 nurses and 99 patients in the terminal stage of a disease were involved. The BOHIPSZO method was used to analyse the quality of care, life quality of the patients was measured by means of RSCL – The Rotterdam Symptom Checklist. The material was subject to statistical analysis. The research results show that high level of hospice nursing care positively affects the quality of life in its physical and psychological spheres.