Best practice in end of life care and the use of anticipatory medicines

Anticipatory prescribing is a vital aspect of end of life care and involves prescribing medicines in advance of a patient's clinical need. However, many nurses are not confident in identifying when a patient has entered the final stages of life or in prescribing and administering anticipatory medicines, with a lack of education potentially responsible. This article describes the rationale for anticipatory prescribing, particularly given the current context of an ageing population with increasing rates of comorbidities. The author outlines some of the distressing symptoms experienced by people at the end of life, some common medicines used in anticipatory prescribing, and how nurses can use anticipatory prescribing to provide timely symptom relief.