Mrs. Atkins Terminal Illness: A Case Study

Evaluation I observed since the doctor shared the result of Mrs Atkins MRI scan her behaviour had changed. My mentor shared my concerns during handover and asked for Mrs Atkins to be closely observed and she was encouraged to share her feeling with the nursing staff if she wanted to. Before my placement ended the palliative team were up-to-date with Mrs Atkins condition and asked to come and speak to her and clarify the seriousness of her situation. The family was invited to a meeting and they were also informed about Mrs Atkins terminal illness and the multi-disciplinary team that are available for support. According to Lafata et,al (2017) highlighted that, high quality communication between patients and clinicians is thought to be central
Since, it had been the nursing team who spent most time with Mrs Atkins it was easy for her to interact with them. She also benefitted from the inter-professional teams that participated in her care. Noticeably, she received kindness and compassion from the porters and me who frequently moved her, showing tolerance and empathy concerning her pain. There was encouragement from the radiographers who used their knowledge to diminish her distress and pain. The palliative care team showed tolerance and understanding and used their exceptional knowledge to help Mrs Atkins to come to terms with her terminal diagnosis through understanding and support. These individuals are expert in their field and were involved with Mrs Atkins care amongst some others. I feel it is advisable to have good relationships with the patients like what I built with Mrs Atkins so that patients can feel the need to trust and share information with the nurse about themselves. It also helps me to get to know Mrs Atkins deeper regarding her behaviour and gave me the opportunity to share my concerns with my mentor. It was helpful that personally I had built a good rapport with Mrs Atkins, and it enabled me to be aware of her behaviour and highlight my concerns with my mentor. Empowering me to verbalize my observation and voiced my concerns to my
Firstly, I would gain consent from the patient so that a family member who she is comfortable with could be there to comfort her. The individual request should be respected that their information should not be shared with anyone if not agreed (Department of Health, 2015). Occasionally caring for a fading patient can be frightening but it is part of our nursing career to do our best to offer the highest standard of care to improve individual health so that they may live a healthy and comfortable life (Freeman et al., 2015). It is argued that nevertheless reality dictates, our sole is to support the patient to health or to a passive death (Henderson, 1996). Secondly, I would ask for the information to share in a private room and if possible away from the ward so that no one would hear or see the patient when she was upset. Also, she could get some time to herself to process the information. It is also important to plan how you are going to share the information with the patient using a designated model as this may assist to avoid sorrow or communication tragedies (Walker et al, 2001). The use of medical terminology should be avoided when delivering bad news to patients. Also leaflets and websites should be given to patients, so they can know where to access information about their illness (Back et al, 2005), which will help to