It is a right of the patient is not to have or feel the pain or the suffering in the any phases or stages of disease.…
Palliative care improves the quality of life patient and families, who face a life threating illness. This treatment takes into account the individuals emotional, physical, and spiritual needs, as well as the individuals surrounding them. Palliative may be a good option for a patient with a serious illness who needs assistance: managing pain, understanding and coping with his of her condition, and navigating the health care system. Facilitating the individual’s choice is vital to palliative care. However, the choice agenda challenges us to question what this truly means for palliative care now and in the future (Kite and Tate, 2005). This article will represent The Atlanta Journal Constitution, dated June 28, 2009, entitled System was deaf to pleas: mother died. This paper will provide sufficient background on the article and discuss the major point. Then, review the legal issues involve in the article law search. Concluding, the writer will discuss suggestion that could have been made.…
Although the concept of palliative care is not new, most physicians have traditionally concentrated on trying to cure patients. Treatments for the alleviation of symptoms were viewed as hazardous and seen as inviting addiction and other unwanted side effects.[1]…
The team should be knowledgeable to give proactive care, understand the patient's preferences and forgive conflicts. The process of truth telling in advanced cancer or any other terminal illness can be a difficult task. Whenever a patient is too moribund and not in a suitable mental stage, the family carers are required to give informed consent. The doctor and nurse in the palliative care team have to build the communication with a responsible family carer so that confidentiality and dignity for patient's last stage are maintained.[1,2] Communication is meant to deal with ethical questions regarding two fundamental aspects of Palliative Care: To explain the concept of a good death and to resolve the conflicting needs of patient vis-à-vis family.[8]…
Rather than seeking a cure as with traditional western medical practices, hospice and palliative care puts an emphasis on the quality of life by concentrating on symptom, pain, and stress reduction to alleviate patient suffering through the use of a multidisciplinary approach. This medical approach to patient care is deemed appropriate for patients with acute and chronic diseases, as well as for patients at the end of their life. While the palliative care treatment methodology seeks to relieve symptoms without providing a curative effect on the underlying disease or cause, hospice care addresses only those who are considered terminal, that is, with a life expectancy of less than six months. With respect to advanced disease progression, concerns pertaining to physical, emotional, spiritual, and social issues are addressed with regard to the patient and their loved ones.…
Instead of embracing this act of death, we should respond to suffering with compassion and solidarity. (Anderson, Screen 1) Many of the patients seeking to end their lives in this way usually suffer from depression or other mental illnesses, but also from loneliness. Instead of us giving them pills to kill them, the doctors should provide the suitable medical care they need. As for the patients in physical pain, pain management drugs can be administered to improve their quality of life. The terminally ill patients are provided with hospice care and fellowship to accompany them on their last days of life. Doctors should help their patients die a dignified death of natural causes, not assist in killing them. (Anderson, Screen 1) Physicians take the oath to always heal and care, never to kill intentionally. Palliative care focuses on the patient’s quality of life and improving it by alleviating pain and other distressing symptoms of a serious illness. At any age or stage in illness, palliative care is available to help improve the patient’s life as a whole. It does not matter if the illness is curable, chronic, or even life-threatening, medicine can improve your symptoms dramatically, helping you live with your…
|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…
Hospice can be described as a philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient’s symptoms while providing emotional and spiritual support for them and their family (Meirer, McCormick, & Lagman, 2015). The hospice model of care focuses on improving quality of life rather than prolonging it, and holistically embraces the principles of dying with comfort and dignity. This model uses an interdisciplinary team to develop an individualized plan of care that addresses all aspects of care and is based on the patient’s goals and cultural values (Meirer, McCormick, & Lagman,…
98). Palliative care would use a team approach, to help the patient and family cope during the patient’s illness and provide grief counseling if necessary (Masterstvedt et al. 98). Palliative care should also enhance the quality of life to the patient, and potentially improve the course of the illness. If the palliative care is applied appropriately early in the course of the illness and used with other therapies, it should be used with the intention of prolonging life (Masterstvedt et al. 98). So instead of the pressure of a law, and potential influences of family members eeking an inheritance, the World Health Organization defines a new strategy that would instead work to improve quality of life, instead of ending a poor quality of…
Lugton J. & Kindlen M. (2000) Palliative care: The nursing role. 2nd Edition. Harcourt Brance Ltd.…
This Reflective paper is about Mr. Laurie Strike, 84 year old male, a terminally ill patient. He was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2010 and since then undergone many treatments. However, his condition deteriorated over a period of time and now he wants to end his life. Even though, his family and friends were upset with his decision, now they are reconciled to his will. Mr. Strike says that his quality of life worsened by living with a colostomy bag and catheter.…
There has been a lot of debate on whether or not palliative care is really effective. Amy Clements-Cortes (2016) wrote that “Up until 2005 most studies on palliative care music therapy were qualitative in nature,” (pg. 127). Meaning it was more about quality over quantity, and Tracey McConnell, David Scott and Sam Porter (2016) explained in their article that “Qualitative research suggests that music therapy is beneficial to palliative care patients such as helping them express difficult emotions, helping patients and families find closure at the end of life and improving staff mood and resilience” (pg. 881). Everyone has different opinions and as time goes by, more evidence has been found that proves music therapy is effective, but at the…
End of life care is one of the most taboo topics in American society as it requires those involved to acknowledge that their lives will eventually come to an end. Planning for such an outcome can be difficult but ultimately it is necessary in order to save others from dealing with the burden of end of life care while unprepared. As a nurse it is especially important to have a firm grasp of the many different factors that weigh in decisions related to end of life care and be ready to assist both the patient and his or her family in any way needed when that time may come. A careful examination of the resources available in a community to assist with this care, the gaps in care prevalent in American society today, the cultural…
The didactic on palliative care helped me reflect on the importance of taking care of those who are around me. There are people who I am supposed to take care of because those are people who I have been put in charge in some way. For example, people at a parish where I am working as a seminarian intern or patients at a hospital where I am a chaplain intern. Those are people who I have to take care of and I do. However, there are other people who are around me and who are very important to me. For example, my family, my extended family, friends in Colombia and Chicago, priests who have helped me during my life, and nuns who have been key in my vocation. Those people have been essential to who I am today.…
In aging patients with severe illnesses, conversation guides and condensed videos can enhance dialogue regarding end-of-life decisions on care between them and clinicians. Research has revealed that in seriously ill aging patients, good communication with clinicians is linked to improved goal-consistent care, increased/enriched quality of life, increased contentment of patients, further and timelier hospital care, better coping on the part of the patient and his/her family, lessened obligation of decision-making for families, and improved grief outcomes. However, research has also shown that many terminally sick (old-age) patients do not engage in timely dialogues regarding their goals, and often, the talks that do take place are deficient.…