Decisions for intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in patients with advanced cancer are complex, and the knowledge of survival rates and prognostic factors are essential to these decisions. Ours objectives were to describe the short- and long-term survival of patients with metastatic solid cancer admitted to an ICU due to emergencies and to study the prognostic factors presented at ICU admission that could be associated with hospital mortality. We retrospectively analysed the charts of all patients with metastatic solid cancer admitted over a 1-year period. This gave a study sample of 83 patients. The ICU, hospital, 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 55.4%, 28.9%, 12.0% and 2.4% respectively. Thrombocytopenia (odds ratio 26.2; P = 0.006) and simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II) (odds ratio 1.09; P = 0.026) were independent factors associated with higher hospital mortality. In conclusion, the survival rates of patients with metastatic solid cancer admitted to the ICU due to emergencies were low, but of the same magnitude as other groups of cancer patients admitted to the ICU. The SAPS II score and thrombocytopenia on admission were associated with higher hospital mortality. The characteristics of the metastatic disease, such as number of organs with metastasis and central nervous system metastasis were not associated with the hospital mortality.

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Background: Palliative care needs are increasing worldwide. Although palliative care is an interdisciplinary approach, nurses play a central role in the team context. As it is necessary to clarify the unique contribution of nursing to palliative care, the current study aims to identify and analyze the nursing theories used in Palliative Care research. The methodology was a literature review of investigation articles published between 1994 and 2014 in the databases Pubmed, CINAHL, B-on, Cuiden, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Embase. Fifteen articles from 6 countries that used 10 different theories were found. The grand theory was the most used type of theory and the Humanistic Nursing Theory was the most used theory. We conclude that there is no consensus surrounding the utilization of one unique theory in Palliative Nursing. It is considered that the use of different theories in different contexts and different populations can contribute to a sustained reflection. There needs to be more studies developed in this context with a theoretical background.