Informal Caregiving
Elective I (Hospice Palliative Care)
UNIT IV. PREPARING FOR CAREGIVING A caregiver is anyone who provides help to another person in need. Caregivers provide support to someone who needs help. Learning about being a caregiver may help you provide the care your friend or loved one needs. Usually, the person receiving care has a condition such as dementia, cancer, or brain injury and needs help with basic daily tasks. Caregivers help with many things such as: grocery shopping, house cleaning, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, using the toilet, dressing, and eating. People who are not paid to provide care are known as informal caregivers or family caregivers. The most common type of informal caregiving relationship is an adult …show more content…
• much longer periods of pausing in the breathing (apnea) • dramatic changes in the breathing pattern including apnea, but also including very rapid breathing or cyclic changes in the patterns of breathing (such as slow progressing to very fast and then slow again, or shallow progressing to very deep breathing while also changing rate of breathing to very fast and then slow) • other very abnormal breathing patterns • severely increased respiratory congestion or fluid buildup in lungs • inability to swallow any fluids at all (not taking any food by mouth voluntarily as well) • patient states that he or she is going to die • patient breathing through wide open mouth continuously and no longer can speak even if awake • urinary or bowel incontinence in a patient who was not incontinent before • marked decrease in urine output and darkening color of urine or very abnormal colors (such as red or brown) • blood pressure dropping dramatically from patient's normal blood pressure range (more than a 20 or 30 point drop) • systolic blood pressure below 70, diastolic blood pressure below 50 • patient's extremities (such as hands, arms, feet and legs) feel very cold to
UNIT IV. PREPARING FOR CAREGIVING A caregiver is anyone who provides help to another person in need. Caregivers provide support to someone who needs help. Learning about being a caregiver may help you provide the care your friend or loved one needs. Usually, the person receiving care has a condition such as dementia, cancer, or brain injury and needs help with basic daily tasks. Caregivers help with many things such as: grocery shopping, house cleaning, cooking, shopping, paying bills, bathing, using the toilet, dressing, and eating. People who are not paid to provide care are known as informal caregivers or family caregivers. The most common type of informal caregiving relationship is an adult …show more content…
• much longer periods of pausing in the breathing (apnea) • dramatic changes in the breathing pattern including apnea, but also including very rapid breathing or cyclic changes in the patterns of breathing (such as slow progressing to very fast and then slow again, or shallow progressing to very deep breathing while also changing rate of breathing to very fast and then slow) • other very abnormal breathing patterns • severely increased respiratory congestion or fluid buildup in lungs • inability to swallow any fluids at all (not taking any food by mouth voluntarily as well) • patient states that he or she is going to die • patient breathing through wide open mouth continuously and no longer can speak even if awake • urinary or bowel incontinence in a patient who was not incontinent before • marked decrease in urine output and darkening color of urine or very abnormal colors (such as red or brown) • blood pressure dropping dramatically from patient's normal blood pressure range (more than a 20 or 30 point drop) • systolic blood pressure below 70, diastolic blood pressure below 50 • patient's extremities (such as hands, arms, feet and legs) feel very cold to