| Literature DB >> 24684942 |
Shirley H Bush1, Pamela A Grassau, Michelle N Yarmo, Tinghua Zhang, Samantha J Zinkie, José L Pereira.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS), which assesses level of sedation and agitation, is a simple observational instrument which was developed and validated for the intensive care setting. Although used and recommended in palliative care settings, further validation is required in this patient population. The aim of this study was to explore the validity and feasibility of a version of the RASS modified for palliative care populations (RASS-PAL).Entities:
Year: 2014 PMID: 24684942 PMCID: PMC3997822 DOI: 10.1186/1472-684X-13-17
Source DB: PubMed Journal: BMC Palliat Care ISSN: 1472-684X Impact factor: 3.234
RASS-PAL scores
| 1 | 30 | PS | n.d., −5, − 5 | −3, −4, −5 | n.d., −4, −5 | −5, −5, −5 | Patient died |
| 3 | 30 | Agitated delirium | −1, −1, −1 | n.d., −1, −1 | n.d., n.d., −1 | −1, −1,-1 | n.d., −1, −1 |
| 4 | 30 | Agitated delirium | n.d., −5, −2 | −5, −5, −4 | n.d., −5, −4 | n.d., n.d., n.d. | Patient died |
| 5 | 20 | Agitated delirium | 1, 1, n.d. | n.d., n.d., n.d. | n.d., 0, 0 | n.d., 0, 0 | n.d., −3, n.d. |
| 6 | 10 | Agitated delirium | 1, 0, 0 | −1, 0, n.d. | −4, −5, −5 | −1, −1, n.d. | n.d., −5, −5 |
| 7 | 10 | PS | −2, n.d., −2 | −2, n.d., −1 | −5, n.d., −4 | −5, n.d., −4 | Patient died |
| 8 | 10 | PS | −3, −3, −3 | −3, −5, −3 | n.d., −4, −4 | −2, n.d., −3 | −5, n.d., −5 |
| 9 | 20 | PS | −2, −2, −2 | n.d., n.d., 0 | n.d., n.d., 1 | n.d., n.d., 1 | 0, 0, n.d. |
| 10 | 20 | Agitated delirium | 2, 1, 1 | 1, −3, −3 | n.d., −2, 1 | 1, −3, 1 | 1, −1, n.d. |
| 11 | 40 | Agitated delirium | −3, −3, −3 | 0, 0, 0 | −1, 0, 0 | −3, 0, −3 | −1, 0, n.d. |
RASS-PAL = Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale modified for Palliative Care inpatients.
PS = Palliative Sedation.
NSCLC = Non-small cell lung cancer.
ALS = Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
PPS = Palliative Performance Scale, version 2 [22].
HCP = Health Care Professional:
HCP1 = Palliative Care (PC) Physician.
HCP2 = Practice Support Nurse (PSN).
HCP3 = Bedside Nurse (BSN).
n.d. = assessment not done.
Inter-rater correlations of RASS-PAL
| Time 1 | 0.90 (0.74, 0.96) | 0.98 (0.93, 0.99) | 0.98 (0.95, 1.00) |
| Time 2 | 0.95 (0.85, 0.98) | 0.64 (0.29, 0.89) | 0.84 (0.56, 0.95) |
| Time 3 | 0.76 (0.44, 0.92) | 0.86 (0.60, 0.96) | 0.94 (0.79, 0.98) |
| Time 4 | 0.95 (0.85, 0.98) | 0.74 (0.38, 0.93) | 0.97 (0.89, 0.99) |
| Time 5 | 0.89 (0.70, 0.97) | 0.91 (0.67, 0.98) | 0.98 (0.89, 1.00) |
ICC = Intraclass correlation coefficient and 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 1Health Care Professional (HCP) survey results.
Figure 2Model of RASS-PAL themes.
Qualitative comments: strengths of utilising the RASS-PAL tool in palliative care inpatients
| Palliative care physician | “…it was easy to score” | ID 1001 |
| Nurse | “…the explanations were very good…they are quite easy to understand” | ID 1009 |
| Nurse | “how you assess the patient, it’s….the degree of delirium or agitation is easier recognized when you’re following the protocol for this thing. | ID 1008 |
| Palliative care physician | “that we’re all talking the same language right? …because what I consider something to be moderate or severe, someone else might not so it kind of delineates exactly what that is” | ID 1012 |
| Nurse | “…if everyone follows this…then I think it would be easier if somebody says, “oh they are a -3 or +2” …you quickly know exactly where they are” | ID 1011 |
| Palliative care physician | “I think it gives an objective number to what you’re observing, I think that’s its advantage, instead of just saying well you know, you just sort of generalize at times but this makes you kind of specify what you’re actually seeing” | ID 1002 |
| Palliative care physician | “…it also gives you a language that different members of the care team could come to you and say, ‘This is what I want’, or ‘this is what I’m seeing’, ‘this is where we should go'” | ID 1010 |
| Nurse | “…it’s also good because it would be easier also to transfer that information to the staff, to all the staff that will take care of this patient and also the doctors and the interdisciplinary team” | ID 1013 |
| Palliative care physician | “…I think it’s potentially very useful in clinical care and for communication… among staff members…if a nurse is coming onto their shift and they look at this, they can see well…that they patient could have been quite agitated and they’ll be on their guard and need to be on the watch …” | ID 1002 |
| Palliative care physician | “…better communication, better documentation, better understanding over time, so you can look back and…you can see how…things are progressing over time” | ID 1012 |
Qualitative comments: limitations of utilising the RASS-PAL tool and its potential to improve patient care
| Nurse | “…when you called their name I think some people (and they woke up), some people didn’t really know how to rate them. They might not have been agitated but they were very confused and….sometimes I had trouble doing that.” | ID 1001 |
| Palliative care physician | “…but when you’re dealing with an agitated patient, there’s so…for example, hyperactive delirium, there’s so many other components then just motor agitation or something and that you can’t really assess you know and it change so fast you now…” | ID 1005 |
| Palliative care physician | “I found it difficult to score because …in the time-frame that we were looking at them they had elements of both…so mixed delirium could be more difficult to score.” | ID 1007 |
| Palliative care physician | “…but I don’t think it was as easy to do…when they’re calm or like seem to be calm and then you know that they were just really agitated a little while ago.” | ID 1002 |
| Nurse | “If we were going to add these two forms of evaluation…that’s a lot of paperwork for me to do that with 4 different patients to have 3 different surveys throughout the day, that is very hard…very hard.” | ID 1004 |
| Nurse | “I think if staff follow through and medicate patients appropriately, then it’s good.” | ID 1001 |
| Palliative care physician | “I think it informs us a lot better and guides decision making, in terms of whether somebody is going to get medication or not.” | ID 1007 |
| Nurse | “it’s a good guide….it’ll improve in the sense that it’s a good guide, give us an idea, but not as far as hands-on care.. we’re still…not going to go to a paper.” | ID 1009 |
| Nurse | “I would say it improves patient care for sure because you’re assessing the degree of delirium or agitation and….you’re paying attention.” | ID 1008 |
| Nurse | “…we’d need …a bit more education if it’s going to be used on a regular basis like our other paperwork.” | ID 1009 |
| Palliative care physician | “…staff if they don’t understand how to use it, they’re not going to use it, so they need to be educated. And some staff will fill it out, but then you’ll look and they won’t give meds.” | ID 1002 |