Palliative Care: A Case Study
Introduction
In order to improve the patient's quality of life, palliative care is care given to patients of all ages who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses that have little to no chance of cure. This includes providing treatments of other problems such as physical, psychological and spiritual. In my opinion, quality palliative care is providing both physical and emotional support (care) for the patient. This includes providing relief from pain and distressing symptoms; emotional support can be as simple as lending a listening ear to the patient. In terms of comfort, physical pain would affect the patient the most, and therefore, we have to manage it as soon as possible. As a patient suffering from a life-threatening illness, they …show more content…
Some of the symptoms include pain, fatigue, dyspnea and anorexia.
Firstly, fatigue, also known as asthenia, is one of the most common symptoms among patients under palliative care. It affects up to 80% of patients in palliative care. (Ferrell, B.R., et al 2015). Fatigue can be defined as weakness, tiredness and the lack of energy (Radbruch et al., 2008). If the patient is experiencing fatigue, they may not have the energy and ability to perform simple tasks such as activities of daily living. This may cause the patient to feel demoralized. If the patient is demoralized, their decision making might be affected, which may lead to the refusal of treatments. For example, this can be managed by administering mild sedating antidepressants, or it can be managed by non-pharmacological methods such as implementing energy conserving strategies. Plan frequent rest periods between activities and scheduling activities to the time of the day where patient's energy level is at their highest. If the management of fatigue is successful, patient will experience positive impacts such as elevated mood, increased sense of accomplishment, increased independence, improved decision making. These will contribute to an increased in quality of …show more content…
For example, depression is a common symptom in palliative patients, but it is misunderstood and undertreated (Breitbart & L Dickerman, 2017). This can be a problem as psychological pain symptom such as depression may not be treated properly, which will reduce patient’s quality of life. This may be caused by improper training among healthcare workers. A solution to this would be to ensure that there is enough trained staff to provide quality palliative care, and ensure that all healthcare professionals have gone through proper training (example, diploma courses) and have basic knowledge in palliative
In order to improve the patient's quality of life, palliative care is care given to patients of all ages who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses that have little to no chance of cure. This includes providing treatments of other problems such as physical, psychological and spiritual. In my opinion, quality palliative care is providing both physical and emotional support (care) for the patient. This includes providing relief from pain and distressing symptoms; emotional support can be as simple as lending a listening ear to the patient. In terms of comfort, physical pain would affect the patient the most, and therefore, we have to manage it as soon as possible. As a patient suffering from a life-threatening illness, they …show more content…
Some of the symptoms include pain, fatigue, dyspnea and anorexia.
Firstly, fatigue, also known as asthenia, is one of the most common symptoms among patients under palliative care. It affects up to 80% of patients in palliative care. (Ferrell, B.R., et al 2015). Fatigue can be defined as weakness, tiredness and the lack of energy (Radbruch et al., 2008). If the patient is experiencing fatigue, they may not have the energy and ability to perform simple tasks such as activities of daily living. This may cause the patient to feel demoralized. If the patient is demoralized, their decision making might be affected, which may lead to the refusal of treatments. For example, this can be managed by administering mild sedating antidepressants, or it can be managed by non-pharmacological methods such as implementing energy conserving strategies. Plan frequent rest periods between activities and scheduling activities to the time of the day where patient's energy level is at their highest. If the management of fatigue is successful, patient will experience positive impacts such as elevated mood, increased sense of accomplishment, increased independence, improved decision making. These will contribute to an increased in quality of …show more content…
For example, depression is a common symptom in palliative patients, but it is misunderstood and undertreated (Breitbart & L Dickerman, 2017). This can be a problem as psychological pain symptom such as depression may not be treated properly, which will reduce patient’s quality of life. This may be caused by improper training among healthcare workers. A solution to this would be to ensure that there is enough trained staff to provide quality palliative care, and ensure that all healthcare professionals have gone through proper training (example, diploma courses) and have basic knowledge in palliative