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Managing severe breathlessness in patients with end-stage COPD
Author: Jane Leyshon
Date: October 2012
Journal: Nursing Standard
Issue: Volume 27, Number 6
Keywords: Breathlessness, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, palliative care, refractory dyspnoea, symptom management
The disease trajectory in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be long and uncertain, making it difficult to identify when patients are at the end-stage of the disease. Patients with COPD have been found to experience similar levels of symptom burden to those with lung cancer, yet they are less likely to receive palliative care and treatment with opiates, anxiolytics or antidepressants. This article focuses on pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to the management of severe breathlessness in patients with end-stage COPD.
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The RCN Publishing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing, the world's largest organisation for nurses. RCN Publishing produces one weekly, eight monthly and two quarterly nursing publications. Nursing Standard, the flagship journal, is the UK's biggest selling weekly for nursing. It is produced by RCN Publishing Company along with a suite of specialist nursing journals - Cancer Nursing Practice, Mental Health Practice, Learning Disability Practice, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Management, Emergency Nurse, Nursing Older People, Nurse Researcher and Primary Health Care. RCN Publishing Company also produce the RCN Bulletin, a major source of up-to-the-minute information for RCN members in all specialities, grades and working environments. With the latest nurse vacancies from trusts nationwide, it has become the most cost-effective nurse recruitment magazine available.