Hat2 Task 1

HAT 1 – Task 2

A. Explain how your own perceptions about quality of life and health promotion might affect your care for a dying patient with a lingering illness such as cancer.
My perceptions about quality of life would and have affected my care of dying patients. I have been asked in numerous situations for my opinion from a patient or family member and my answer is generally the same. You should do what you think is best for the patient. Take yourself out of the equation. How would your loved one want to spend their remaining time? If you believe that aggressive treatment will restore a quality of life that your loved one will be happy with, pursue it. There are no wrong choices if your heart is in the right place
|CancerUnrelieved painPatients lay in bed crying.Increased signs of depression by her husband.Mrs. Thomas does not want to burden family and friends. Mrs. Thomas’s children find it too painful to visit her.No long-term health insurance. Difficulty making ends meet. |Patient will be able to express her grief and understand the stages of grief.Patient will identify and engage support systems as needed.Patient will be able to participate in care as tolerated by alleviating pain and increasing tolerance to activities of daily living. Patient will adopt “one day at a time” living. Patient will be able to set realistic personal goals. |Pastoral care to address patient’s spiritual needs and provide grief counseling due to terminal illness. Encourage patient to verbalize feelings, fears and worries. Assist patient to set realistic goals. Assist with identification of solutions to current problems. Social Worker to assess family dynamics, barriers to care and community resources to assist patient and family financially and socially. Family teaching and counseling to patient’s sons regarding the importance of visiting their mother. Social Worker to arrange family meeting to identify family goals and responsibilities. Psychiatry referral for counseling, assessing barriers to taking
Future needs for care provision due to terminal prognosis. |Terminal condition with expected physical deterioration|Patient to provide self care safely with minimal assistance. Patient to assist with self care when condition initially begins to deteriorate and continue as long as she is able.Provisions to be in place for patient’s personal care when patient is no longer able to assist. |Physical therapy to assist patient with strengthening to increase activity tolerance. Occupational therapy to teach adaptive methods of providing personal care to patient and family. Occupational therapy to evaluate home environment for safety hazards and assess for need for adaptive equipment. Psychological needs to be addressed by pastoral care, social worker and psychiatrist to improve emotional status and extend amount of time patient able to remain independent. Hospice to provide nursing assistant as condition progresses to help with ADL’s. Nurse to teach family how to assist patient with activities of daily living as needed. Respite care to be provided by hospice agency to prevent caregivers from being overwhelmed physically and emotionally.