Table 3.

Qualitative comments: strengths of utilising the RASS-PAL tool in palliative care inpatients

Strengths of RASS-PAL tool
Ease/Utility of tool
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
Common language/Standardization
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
Assists interprofessional communication
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