Purpose: To clarify the effect of a palliative care team intervention for nausea of cancer patients. Methods: The study participants were all cancer patients who were referred to a palliative care team in Yodogawa Christian Hospital in 2010, and had nausea with score 2 or over of the Support Team Assessment Schedule Japanese version (STAS－J). The causes of nausea were classified into 4 categories. Etiology－based antiemetic medications were recommended, and the intensities of nausea were assessed using the STAS－J on the day of referral, and 7 days after. Result: Among 27 patients were recruited for this study, 24 were assessed 7 days after. Nine patients had chemically induced nausea, eight had impaired gastric emptying, four had vestibular and central nervous system disturbance, and three had bowel obstruction. The mean STAS－J score significantly decreased from 3.0 (SD, 0.55) on the day of referral to 1.1 (0.80) after 7 days (p＜0.001). Two patients had mild drowsiness. Conclusion: The recommendations of etiology－based antiemetics by the palliative care team may be effective for managing nausea in cancer patients.

The experience at the time of a patient’s death can affect the mental health of bereaved families. Performing death pronouncements is an important skill for end-of-life care. However, almost no educational content regarding death pronouncements is presently included in medical educational programs. We have created a guidebook for “Physician behavior at the time of death pronouncement” based on the results of a questionnaire given to the families of deceased patients that included several items related to this topic. The purpose of this research was to investigate the educational effect of using this guidebook. The guidebook was given to 4th-year medical students attending the Yokohama City University School of Medicine. A survey was then conducted to assess evaluations of self-practice and feelings of difficulty at the time of making death pronouncements both before and after the class. Among the 39 students who provided valid responses, the majority (89.5%) indicated that they had difficulty with the item regarding “the specific method of death pronouncement.” A significant improvement was observed between the responses obtained before and those obtained after the class. We concluded that our guidebook for physician behavior at the time of death pronouncement might be useful for the education of medical students.