Evidence and practice

Palliative and end of life care in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Karen Newell Respiratory clinical nurse specialist, Merton cardio-respiratory team, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Morden, London, England

Kim Smith End of life care clinical nurse specialist, Merton End of Life Care Team, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, London, England

Anne-Marie Russell Clinical research fellow, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, England

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a life-limiting interstitial lung disease. We do not know what causes it and there is no cure. People experience debilitating symptoms and delays before a diagnosis is confirmed are not uncommon. Palliative and end of life care for these patients is of variable quality. This article introduces and discusses the complexities of recognition, treatment and management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, emphasising the importance of the primary care and community nurse roles. The implications for nursing practice in managing this group of people to live well and to die well will be explored.

Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2018.e1387

Citation

Newell K, Smith K, Russell A-M (2018) Palliative and end of life care in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2018.e1387

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

karennewell@nhs.net

Conflict of interest

None declared

Published online: 22 May 2018

Keywords :

community - community care - diagnosis - idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis - interstitial lung disease - palliative care - patients - patient outcomes - primary care - quality of life