A retrospective review of strong opioid use in the last 6 days of life of patients with HIV/AIDS or cancer at the in-patients unit of St. Francis Hospice
The study was prompted by nursing concern at St Francis Hospice that, in HIV-positive patients, the use of opioids for symptom-control may shorten life, while I felt that pain was not recognized and therefore analgesia was withheld until the HIV-positive patients were close to their natural death. Objective: To compare pain control and sedation practices for terminally ill patients with HIV or cancer.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Department of Public Health and Family Medicine