Karen E Groves - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Karen E Groves

Research paper thumbnail of P-2 Growing in confidence: impact of new one-day advance care planning course on frontline clinical staff

Poster Presentations, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of P87 May I?: Audit of documentation of consent for care

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2013

Waterlow score-an indication of patient frailty. The DMH can demonstrate that twice as many EOL p... more Waterlow score-an indication of patient frailty. The DMH can demonstrate that twice as many EOL patients receiving care die at home as those not referred to the hospice.

Research paper thumbnail of P-117 By the clock: audit investigating the administration of regularly prescribed opioid analgesia in palliative patients on general hospital wards

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of P-56 Teaching nurses to teach end of life care: CNSs’ perceptions of the impact of an educational intervention

Poster Presentations, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Virtual learning environment (‘Ivy Street’) for palliative medicine education: student and facilitator evaluation

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

AimThe study aimed to evaluate student and facilitator perceptions regarding the novel use of a v... more AimThe study aimed to evaluate student and facilitator perceptions regarding the novel use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) in the development and implementation of ‘Ivy Street’.Sample/methodsHealthcare professionals enrolled on the first palliative and end-of-life care masters level module and course facilitators were invited to participate in the study. Two online surveys were developed comprising five open-ended questions to gain both student (n=16) and facilitator (n=4) perceptions of Ivy Street. Data were analysed thematically.FindingsThe key theme to emerge was the ‘Positive Perceptions of Ivy Street’. A second sub theme ‘Critical Feedback of Ivy Street’ focused on some initial technical issues. Respondents perceived the use of Ivy Street to be enjoyable, enabling and promoting peer discussion, while also having a high impact on student engagement. Respondents commented how Ivy Street removed concerns regarding confidentiality when discussing patient cases through utili...

Research paper thumbnail of 39 Virtual response: an educational response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Research paper thumbnail of 45 Archeological dig: a historical review of local evidence, guidelines and clinical practice in response to the gosport enquiry

Research paper thumbnail of Meeting patients' spiritual needs during end-of-life care: A qualitative study of nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care training

Journal of clinical nursing, Jan 9, 2018

To explore nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care and the im... more To explore nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care and the impact of spiritual care training on their clinical roles. Many nurses and healthcare professionals feel unprepared and lack confidence, competence and skills, to recognise, assess and address patients' spiritual issues. Patients with unmet spiritual needs are at increased risk of poorer psychological outcomes, diminished quality of life and reduced sense of spiritual peace. There are implications for patient care if nurses and healthcare professionals cannot attend to patients' spiritual needs. A qualitative methodology was adopted. Recruitment was purposive. A total of 21 generalist and specialist nursing and healthcare professionals from North West and South West England, who undertook spiritual care training between 2015-2017, were recruited. Participants were required to be a minimum of 3 months posttraining. Digitally audio-recorded semistructured interviews lasting 11-40 min...

Research paper thumbnail of Opening the gate' - What's the difference?

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

Research paper thumbnail of P-38 See one, do one, teach one!: preparation of hospice/specialist palliative care unit doctors as medical educators

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

Background The holistic needs of patients with symptomatic heart failure are often neglected. Thi... more Background The holistic needs of patients with symptomatic heart failure are often neglected. This may be partly attributable to a reliance on secondary care management. It is proposed that collaboration and communication between Primary Care, Cardiology and Palliative Care Services may be key in meeting the multidimensional needs of patients. This qualitative study assesses the adequacy of current services within Northern Ireland, to meet the needs of patients with heart failure, as perceived by General Practitioners (GPs). Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs recruited via the University Department of General Practice and Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Agency. Interviews were transcribed, independently coded using NVivo 9 TM and analysed using a six-step thematic analysis approach. Key themes were identified inductively. Results Twenty semi-structured interviews with participants from each of the five Trust areas were conducted. GPs reported prioritising acute medical problems with less emphasis on the assessment of underlying needs. Discussions around end of life care were frequently neglected, related to poor awareness of the need to initiate these discussions, difficulties identifying palliative requirements and fear of causing unnecessary distress. Care provided by the heart failure team was highly regarded, although difficulties included inequity of access and inadequate handover to GPs. Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) services were deemed important, yet GPs often reported poor awareness of their role. The common perceptions that SPC services were overstretched; cancer focused and lacked expertise in heart failure lead to its limited utilisation. The need for these services to be community based was evident. Conclusions GPs identified a number of barriers that currently limit the delivery of holistic care for community based heart failure patients. Expansion of the community heart failure service, more frequent conversations with patients, along with greater interdisciplinary collaboration and education may help bridge the current gaps in care provision.

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating palliative care into neurology services: what do the professionals say?

BMJ supportive & palliative care, Jan 3, 2017

Evaluations of new services for palliative care in non-cancer conditions are few. OPTCARE Neuro i... more Evaluations of new services for palliative care in non-cancer conditions are few. OPTCARE Neuro is a multicentre trial evaluating the effectiveness of short-term integrated palliative care (SIPC) for progressive long-term neurological conditions. Here, we present survey results describing the current levels of collaboration between neurology and palliative care services and exploring the views of professionals towards the new SIPC service. Neurology and palliative care teams from six UK trial sites (London, Nottingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Brighton and Chertsey) were approached via email to complete an online survey. The survey was launched in July 2015 and consisted of multiple choice or open comment questions with responses collected using online forms. 33 neurology and 26 palliative care professionals responded. Collaborations between the two specialties were reported as being 'good/excellent' by 36% of neurology and by 58% of palliative care professionals. However, nearly...

Research paper thumbnail of Made to fit': filling critical gaps with a hospice at home service

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Uncovering Shadowy Secrets: How Ultrasound Changes Hospice Care

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of What's the ‘E’ in E-Learning for Spirituality: A Comparison of Online and Face to Face Course Versions for Healthcare Workers

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of P6 One Step at a Time: Introducing an End-of-Life Care programme to a critical mass of local care homes

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Opening the electronic gate': raising spiritual awareness online

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2011

Background Following an audit of spiritual and religious needs assessment and care provision acro... more Background Following an audit of spiritual and religious needs assessment and care provision across one cancer network area in the Northwest of England in 2006 it was clear that most health professionals working within specialist palliative care services felt that they lacked confi dence, and would benefi t from further education, in spiritual support. The cancer network supported the development of an interactive learning package for staff. 'Opening the Spiritual gate', to meet this expressed need. Aims To raise awareness of the spiritual and religious needs of patients and families To help staff feel more confi dent in discussing and assessing them. To provide this education in a format which is easily accessible and available to staff. Method A joint project between a cancer network and a university technology department in the Northwest of England resulted in the conversion of the interactive awareness raising course of four sessions, originally delivered face to face (on one day or as a series), into an online course based on a constructivist learning format. Results The iterative process involved in the conversion, a description of the online instance and the resulting course along with the qualitative analysis of the pilot are described. The results show that the online platform allowed participants to access the course at a time to suit themselves, from anywhere which had internet access and allowed them to learn at their own pace with time for refl ection. Conclusion Clearly e-learning does not suit everyone, but this project has shown that conversion of even a course reliant on group interaction is possible as long as suffi cient material and activity, to meet all learning styles and preferences, is built in and the course is organised to allow small cohorts of people to form a learning community for its duration.

Research paper thumbnail of Spiritual assessment and provision - an audit of current practice

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting family carers providing end-of-life home care: a qualitative study on the impact of a hospice at home service

Journal of clinical nursing, Jan 19, 2014

To explore bereaved family carers' perceptions and experiences of a hospice at home service. ... more To explore bereaved family carers' perceptions and experiences of a hospice at home service. The increasing demand for the development of home-based end-of-life services is not confined to the western world; such services are also emerging in resource-poor countries where palliative care services are developing with limited inpatient facilities. Despite this growing trend, studies show a variety of interrelated factors, with an emphasis on the availability of informal carers and their ability to cope, which can influence whether terminally ill patients actually remain at home. A hospice at home service was developed to meet patients' and families' needs by providing individually tailored resources. A qualitative study. Data were collected by semi-structured, digitally recorded interviews from 20 family carers who had experienced the service. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic approach adopted for analysis. All participants reported a personal positive im...

Research paper thumbnail of An introduction to the Micrel Micropump MP Daily portable syringe driver

International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 2003

In this article the author describes the Micrel Micropump MP Daily (MP Daily) portable syringe dr... more In this article the author describes the Micrel Micropump MP Daily (MP Daily) portable syringe driver. This follows the author's experience of a 4-month pilot of the device by an inpatient palliative care unit. Portable syringe drivers are commonly used to deliver continuous subcutaneous infusions in palliative care situations. Those in current use are not without problems and serious adverse events have occasionally been reported, mainly resulting from confusion between models. The MP Daily syringe driver addresses some of these issues while remaining small, lightweight and inexpensive, with a long battery life and fitting into the pocket of a shirt of pyjama jacket. Improvements over current models include an on/off button, the absence of facilities to set a zero rate or change the rate once the syringe driver is running, and the absence of a boost button. In addition, there are improved alarms, a message display system and a configuration menu. Although confusion remains a problem, and the ideal has not yet been reached, the MP Daily goes some considerable way towards reducing risks and opportunities for human error.

Research paper thumbnail of Moodling through: the virtual world of the palliative medicine trainee

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of P-2 Growing in confidence: impact of new one-day advance care planning course on frontline clinical staff

Poster Presentations, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of P87 May I?: Audit of documentation of consent for care

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2013

Waterlow score-an indication of patient frailty. The DMH can demonstrate that twice as many EOL p... more Waterlow score-an indication of patient frailty. The DMH can demonstrate that twice as many EOL patients receiving care die at home as those not referred to the hospice.

Research paper thumbnail of P-117 By the clock: audit investigating the administration of regularly prescribed opioid analgesia in palliative patients on general hospital wards

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of P-56 Teaching nurses to teach end of life care: CNSs’ perceptions of the impact of an educational intervention

Poster Presentations, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Virtual learning environment (‘Ivy Street’) for palliative medicine education: student and facilitator evaluation

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

AimThe study aimed to evaluate student and facilitator perceptions regarding the novel use of a v... more AimThe study aimed to evaluate student and facilitator perceptions regarding the novel use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) in the development and implementation of ‘Ivy Street’.Sample/methodsHealthcare professionals enrolled on the first palliative and end-of-life care masters level module and course facilitators were invited to participate in the study. Two online surveys were developed comprising five open-ended questions to gain both student (n=16) and facilitator (n=4) perceptions of Ivy Street. Data were analysed thematically.FindingsThe key theme to emerge was the ‘Positive Perceptions of Ivy Street’. A second sub theme ‘Critical Feedback of Ivy Street’ focused on some initial technical issues. Respondents perceived the use of Ivy Street to be enjoyable, enabling and promoting peer discussion, while also having a high impact on student engagement. Respondents commented how Ivy Street removed concerns regarding confidentiality when discussing patient cases through utili...

Research paper thumbnail of 39 Virtual response: an educational response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Research paper thumbnail of 45 Archeological dig: a historical review of local evidence, guidelines and clinical practice in response to the gosport enquiry

Research paper thumbnail of Meeting patients' spiritual needs during end-of-life care: A qualitative study of nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care training

Journal of clinical nursing, Jan 9, 2018

To explore nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care and the im... more To explore nurses' and healthcare professionals' perceptions of spiritual care and the impact of spiritual care training on their clinical roles. Many nurses and healthcare professionals feel unprepared and lack confidence, competence and skills, to recognise, assess and address patients' spiritual issues. Patients with unmet spiritual needs are at increased risk of poorer psychological outcomes, diminished quality of life and reduced sense of spiritual peace. There are implications for patient care if nurses and healthcare professionals cannot attend to patients' spiritual needs. A qualitative methodology was adopted. Recruitment was purposive. A total of 21 generalist and specialist nursing and healthcare professionals from North West and South West England, who undertook spiritual care training between 2015-2017, were recruited. Participants were required to be a minimum of 3 months posttraining. Digitally audio-recorded semistructured interviews lasting 11-40 min...

Research paper thumbnail of Opening the gate' - What's the difference?

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

Research paper thumbnail of P-38 See one, do one, teach one!: preparation of hospice/specialist palliative care unit doctors as medical educators

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

Background The holistic needs of patients with symptomatic heart failure are often neglected. Thi... more Background The holistic needs of patients with symptomatic heart failure are often neglected. This may be partly attributable to a reliance on secondary care management. It is proposed that collaboration and communication between Primary Care, Cardiology and Palliative Care Services may be key in meeting the multidimensional needs of patients. This qualitative study assesses the adequacy of current services within Northern Ireland, to meet the needs of patients with heart failure, as perceived by General Practitioners (GPs). Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs recruited via the University Department of General Practice and Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Agency. Interviews were transcribed, independently coded using NVivo 9 TM and analysed using a six-step thematic analysis approach. Key themes were identified inductively. Results Twenty semi-structured interviews with participants from each of the five Trust areas were conducted. GPs reported prioritising acute medical problems with less emphasis on the assessment of underlying needs. Discussions around end of life care were frequently neglected, related to poor awareness of the need to initiate these discussions, difficulties identifying palliative requirements and fear of causing unnecessary distress. Care provided by the heart failure team was highly regarded, although difficulties included inequity of access and inadequate handover to GPs. Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) services were deemed important, yet GPs often reported poor awareness of their role. The common perceptions that SPC services were overstretched; cancer focused and lacked expertise in heart failure lead to its limited utilisation. The need for these services to be community based was evident. Conclusions GPs identified a number of barriers that currently limit the delivery of holistic care for community based heart failure patients. Expansion of the community heart failure service, more frequent conversations with patients, along with greater interdisciplinary collaboration and education may help bridge the current gaps in care provision.

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating palliative care into neurology services: what do the professionals say?

BMJ supportive & palliative care, Jan 3, 2017

Evaluations of new services for palliative care in non-cancer conditions are few. OPTCARE Neuro i... more Evaluations of new services for palliative care in non-cancer conditions are few. OPTCARE Neuro is a multicentre trial evaluating the effectiveness of short-term integrated palliative care (SIPC) for progressive long-term neurological conditions. Here, we present survey results describing the current levels of collaboration between neurology and palliative care services and exploring the views of professionals towards the new SIPC service. Neurology and palliative care teams from six UK trial sites (London, Nottingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Brighton and Chertsey) were approached via email to complete an online survey. The survey was launched in July 2015 and consisted of multiple choice or open comment questions with responses collected using online forms. 33 neurology and 26 palliative care professionals responded. Collaborations between the two specialties were reported as being 'good/excellent' by 36% of neurology and by 58% of palliative care professionals. However, nearly...

Research paper thumbnail of Made to fit': filling critical gaps with a hospice at home service

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Uncovering Shadowy Secrets: How Ultrasound Changes Hospice Care

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of What's the ‘E’ in E-Learning for Spirituality: A Comparison of Online and Face to Face Course Versions for Healthcare Workers

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of P6 One Step at a Time: Introducing an End-of-Life Care programme to a critical mass of local care homes

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Opening the electronic gate': raising spiritual awareness online

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2011

Background Following an audit of spiritual and religious needs assessment and care provision acro... more Background Following an audit of spiritual and religious needs assessment and care provision across one cancer network area in the Northwest of England in 2006 it was clear that most health professionals working within specialist palliative care services felt that they lacked confi dence, and would benefi t from further education, in spiritual support. The cancer network supported the development of an interactive learning package for staff. 'Opening the Spiritual gate', to meet this expressed need. Aims To raise awareness of the spiritual and religious needs of patients and families To help staff feel more confi dent in discussing and assessing them. To provide this education in a format which is easily accessible and available to staff. Method A joint project between a cancer network and a university technology department in the Northwest of England resulted in the conversion of the interactive awareness raising course of four sessions, originally delivered face to face (on one day or as a series), into an online course based on a constructivist learning format. Results The iterative process involved in the conversion, a description of the online instance and the resulting course along with the qualitative analysis of the pilot are described. The results show that the online platform allowed participants to access the course at a time to suit themselves, from anywhere which had internet access and allowed them to learn at their own pace with time for refl ection. Conclusion Clearly e-learning does not suit everyone, but this project has shown that conversion of even a course reliant on group interaction is possible as long as suffi cient material and activity, to meet all learning styles and preferences, is built in and the course is organised to allow small cohorts of people to form a learning community for its duration.

Research paper thumbnail of Spiritual assessment and provision - an audit of current practice

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting family carers providing end-of-life home care: a qualitative study on the impact of a hospice at home service

Journal of clinical nursing, Jan 19, 2014

To explore bereaved family carers' perceptions and experiences of a hospice at home service. ... more To explore bereaved family carers' perceptions and experiences of a hospice at home service. The increasing demand for the development of home-based end-of-life services is not confined to the western world; such services are also emerging in resource-poor countries where palliative care services are developing with limited inpatient facilities. Despite this growing trend, studies show a variety of interrelated factors, with an emphasis on the availability of informal carers and their ability to cope, which can influence whether terminally ill patients actually remain at home. A hospice at home service was developed to meet patients' and families' needs by providing individually tailored resources. A qualitative study. Data were collected by semi-structured, digitally recorded interviews from 20 family carers who had experienced the service. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic approach adopted for analysis. All participants reported a personal positive im...

Research paper thumbnail of An introduction to the Micrel Micropump MP Daily portable syringe driver

International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 2003

In this article the author describes the Micrel Micropump MP Daily (MP Daily) portable syringe dr... more In this article the author describes the Micrel Micropump MP Daily (MP Daily) portable syringe driver. This follows the author's experience of a 4-month pilot of the device by an inpatient palliative care unit. Portable syringe drivers are commonly used to deliver continuous subcutaneous infusions in palliative care situations. Those in current use are not without problems and serious adverse events have occasionally been reported, mainly resulting from confusion between models. The MP Daily syringe driver addresses some of these issues while remaining small, lightweight and inexpensive, with a long battery life and fitting into the pocket of a shirt of pyjama jacket. Improvements over current models include an on/off button, the absence of facilities to set a zero rate or change the rate once the syringe driver is running, and the absence of a boost button. In addition, there are improved alarms, a message display system and a configuration menu. Although confusion remains a problem, and the ideal has not yet been reached, the MP Daily goes some considerable way towards reducing risks and opportunities for human error.

Research paper thumbnail of Moodling through: the virtual world of the palliative medicine trainee

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 2012