End of Life Care

End of Life Care Planning is about making sure that preferences we would have for where we die and how we should be treated are taken account of. It is a Local and National priority now that evidence shows that the quality of care often provided in hospices is not easily available in other settings, and many people wish to die in their own home, or the next best thing, a nursing or residential home.

We are involved in research, teaching and conference planning and are involved at national levels in wider debates about care and treatment at the end of life. We all die, so every person has the potential to benefit from work which improves both the quality of care and the choices available to people at the end of their lives.

People

End of Life Care research is led by Professor Martin Johnson and Natalie Yates-Bolton, Lecturer in Adult Nursing.

Members and associates of the group include:

  • David Garbutt
  • Dr Celia Hynes
  • Ann Natali
  • Dr Janelle Yorke
  • Dr Tracey Williamson

Key projects

Postgraduate research 

A number of PhD and Professional Doctorate students are undertaking research within this theme of work. Examples include:

  • Ethics of feeding at the end of life
  • Meaning and purpose in the lives of nursing home residents

Key publications

Johnson, M (2007) Invited to present the Royal College of Nursing’s Winifred Raphael Memorial Lecture in Cambridge, October 16th. Title: A short history of nursing ethics: Character, duty and consequences.

Johnson, M. (2008) Help to let go. Nursing Standard ,22 (24), pp. 26-27      

Johnson, M. (2008) The living should be the priority.  Nursing Standard,  22 (33), pp. 28-29

Johnson, M. (2010) Nursing values: the past and the future. , Nosileftiki (The Hellenic Journal of Nursing) 49, 1, 5-7.

Johnson, M., Haigh, C.A. and Yates-Bolton, N. (2007) Valuing of altruism and honesty in nursing students: A two-decade replication study. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 57, 4, 366-374.

Thomas, M. and Hynes, C. (2007) The darker side of groups. Journal of Nursing Management, 15: 375–385. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2007.00697.x