Thursday and Friday.

This was a pretty regular day.  I spend the morning at the hospital discussing palliative care with one of the physicians.  In the afternoon I went on a home visit with one of the physicians and a nurse consultant.  A nurse consultant is a specialized type of nurse, it is one of the most senior level of nurse.  A nurse consultant can practice independently, to some extent.  This nurse consultant works on the palliative care team, but her role is still in evolution.

After the home visit, I spend some time shoe shopping!  There is a fabulous variety of shoes here!  I am looking for things I can't get in Ottawa.  Stay tuned for purchases as I'm still looking around.

Then I went over to the National Portrait Gallery to see the modern portraits.

Friday I spent the day at the hospital.  I attended oncology rounds with one of the team nurses in the morning.  In the afternoon I met with Paula Kelly, a researcher and nurse by background who does research with the palliative care team.  We discussed my current research project and some next steps to take.  I am currently working on developing a data abstraction tool to allow me to do a chart review.  The chart review will look at quality of care provided at end of life and if there is any benefit from a palliative care consultation.  Specifically, I want to examine the presence of pain and other symptoms at end of life and look at location of death and resuscitation attempts at the time of death.  We discussed this at length and she offered some feedback about how to develop a tool to assess these things.  She was extremely helpful.  I am hoping to have most of the work on this project completed by the time I leave London.

Ardibal Carpet

This evening I went to the V and A museum again as it was open until 10pm.  There was a party atmosphere in the main atrium with drumming and live music and a bar set up.  The late night events at the museums seem to be more hip and modern.  The museum was quite crowded.  I looked at Islamic Art, including the Ardibal Carpet one of the oldest in the world.

Tomorrow I am waiting to see what the weather is like before deciding what to do.  It was raining today, so outdoor activities may be out.