Ilona Barańska

The aim of this paper was to summarize the current knowledge about the end-of-life (EOL) communication between the physician and the relative of dying nursing home (NH) residents. A review of literature showed that relatives of dying residents reported low satisfaction with quality of communication with a physician. The relatives complained they were not informed about the residents’ condition, did not understand the information provided by the physician and did not participate in the discussion about the residents’ wishes concerning medical treatment. In conclusion, (1) the concept of quality of EOL communication between the physician and the relatives of the dying NH residents still has no well-grounded foundation, (2) the number of tools for evaluation of EOL communication in the NH is limited, (3) physician-family communication is one of the most important aspects of care at the EOL, (4) many factors may influence it, but one of the most important is the availability of a physician in the NHs.

* Przygotowanie do wydania elektronicznego finansowane w ramach umowy 637/P-DUN/2019 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.

The reforms of the healthcare system (market economy of the sector) have changed the requirements for Poland’s hospital directors. Consequently, ever greater numbers of non-doctors have been appointed to these positions in recent years. One of the responses to this change in the requirements has been directors undertaking postgraduate studies in order to enhance their qualifications or by others to meet the requirements included in recruitment competitions to select a director. The research conducted in 2017 on a group of 137 directors found out that the majority of respondents completed at least one postgraduate course of study. The groups more often undertaking a course of study, or more than one course comprised women, non-doctors, especially those with an engineering education, and younger people. The studies most often chosen were in the field of healthcare management, which comprised 43% of all studies undertaken by the research group. Those least interested in postgraduate studies were doctors. 

Przygotowanie do wydania elektronicznego finansowane w ramach umowy 637/P-DUN/2019 ze środków Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.