Living with breathlessness: quality improvement project to enhance staff confidence and patient self-management

Objectives Breathlessness affects a significant proportion of patients in palliative care. This Quality Improvement Project aimed to develop a patient self-management resource, Living with Breathlessness, and to assess its impact on healthcare professionals’ confidence in non-pharmacological management of breathlessness.Methods Using a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, a multi-professional team developed the resource based on staff suggestions. Pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys were used to measure healthcare professionals’ confidenceResults The resource increased confidence scores from 7 to 9 out of 10, and 93% reported that it enhanced their ability to support patient self-management.Conclusion The project demonstrates the potential of self-management tools to improve healthcare professionals’ confidence, with potential implications for staff well-being and patient care. Further research is needed to assess long-term impacts.