For a study, researchers sought to learn about clinicians’ perspectives on using clinical criteria, or triggers, for specialist palliative care consultation in the ICU. A secondary analysis of a qualitative study that investigated factors related to specialist palliative care in the ICU. In semi-structured interviews with 36 ICU and palliative care clinicians, questions about triggers for specialist palliative care were asked. Investigators used a thematic analysis to identify participants’ perspectives on using triggers, such as the appropriateness of cases for specialists and issues related to trigger implementation. They discovered 5 major themes: Appropriate triggers for specialist palliative care, Issues causing clinician ambivalence about triggers, Prospective stakeholder buy-in, Workflow considerations in deploying a trigger system, and the Role of ICU clinicians in approving specialist palliative care consults. End-of-life care, chronic critical illness, frequent ICU admissions, and patient/family support were appropriate triggers. Most clinicians were concerned about “trigger overload,” and ICU clinicians wanted to be involved in implementation efforts on a large scale. When implementing triggers for specialist palliative care consultation, ICU and palliative care clinicians identify critical issues to consider. Future research was required to investigate the most appropriate triggers and best practices for trigger implementation over time.
Source:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0883944122000831
