Case reviewed with hospice.
Case reviewed with the patient's nurse and case management.
Palliative care will continue to
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 (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is an area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Unlike hospice care, palliative medicine is appropriate for patients in all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases, as well as patients who are nearing the end of life. Palliative medicine utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to patient care, relying on input from physicians, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, social workers, psychologists and other allied health professionals in formulating a plan of care to relieve suffering in all areas of a patient's life. This multidisciplinary approach allows the palliative care team to address physical, emotional, spiritual and social concerns that arise with advanced illness.…
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.…
Harrington C., Carrillo H, Woleslagle B B, O 'Brian T, 2010 Nursing Facilities, Staffing, Residents and Facility Deficiencies, (2004 Through 2009), Table 4.,…
While debate continues on both the success and the future of managed care, one cannot deny the increased emphasis on cost containment. The results of managed care and the continuing evolution of the American health care system are both quantitative and qualitative. They range from a reduction in hospital admissions and stays to an increase in ambulatory care, out-patient surgeries, and home care from an emphasis on prevention and better decisions by consumers about health-related behaviors to the sometimes limited choices by consumers in selecting practitioners and in utilizing benefits from increasing limitations in coverage with higher deductibles and co-pays to the reality of a still significant portion of the population among the disenfranchised or uninsured and from quality of care and treatment to issues and concerns around trust. Four of these areas will be addressed in greater detail below. The Institute for the Future in Health and Health Care 2010 described three tiers of coverage in todays evolving health care system and projected how individuals and families may experience this changing system based on which tier of health coverage describes their particular situation (2000). Their observations are summarized below Tier 1 The securely enfranchised. The first group represents 38 percent of the population. It consists of empowered consumers with considerable discretionary income, who are well educated and use technology, including the Internet,, to get information about their health. Usually they are able to make choices in their plans and coverages. They are able to educate themselves about health behaviors as well as health care issues and concerns. They are likely to engage in shared decision making with physicians and other allied health professionals. Because access and benefit/ coverage security are not issues for them, and because they are more likely to be politically active, their tier will be the most likely to influence changes in legislation…
Palliative care should support the person to achieve a quality of life until death. The person’s independence should be maintained for as long as possible to promote their self-esteem and they should be treated with dignity and respect at all times. Good communication is essential when providing palliative care. It is important that carers and other team members listen to the person and learn about any concerns, fears or anxieties they may have. Fears people have can include suffering a painful death, dying alone, not getting to say goodbye, leaving the family without a provider and fear of losing their independence. Family members, friends and carers can often feel frustrated if the person refuses treatment and feel helpless when all treatment…
Palliative care for a dying patient needs to be well planned and managed to ensure that all aspects of care giving are taken care of. The plan provides a reference for nurses and other practitioners who are involved in giving care to the patient. This is so as to ensure that they all know what needs to be done and does not. The plan also includes the relatives or family of the patient who need to be involved in the process not only to give emotional support but also physical support to the patient. However, this is just a plan and the nurse’s actions are independent and governed by the scope of practice of the state and specific country as well as the comfort levels of the nurse. The common management needs for a dying patient are comfort,…
Three of the most often confused terms in senior care are palliative care, hospice care, and end of life care. Two of these terms, hospice care and end of life care, can be used interchangeably. The third term, palliative care, is quite different from the others and should not be confused with them. When it is, seniors are often cheated out of important care that could speed healing, improve health, and add to their quality of life.…
Research has shown that those who receive palliative care have faster and more successful recoveries than patients who do not receive these services. Because a key component of palliative care is communication, patients feel that their wishes are followed and that their emotional and spiritual needs are…
Nobody wants to die, but death is an inevitable and complex phenomena. To say goodbye to loved one is always difficult. In some cases, it is harder when death comes sooner than later by some serious diagnosis. I think the most important point that a health-care professional needs to consider on the subject of death, dying or grieving is to respect the wishes of patients and families. Health-care professionals should provide training and education about death, dying, and bereavement to the families. Also, healthcare providers should be familiar with the ethics and cultures of the patients and families which they belong to. Death, dying or grieving processes can be culturally or traditionally different among patients. “Some physicians can keep…
Palliative nursing is specialized care given to people with serious illnesses so as to improve their quality of life. It requires special kinds of nurses and doctors like the state tested nursing aides and the certified nursing aides. In order for a nurse to provide special care, one has to have special biomedical knowledge, be kind, patient and patient because the sight of dying elderly men and women is heartbreaking. It is also very testing because an aide might bond with a patient only for him or her to die, and it gets hard to adapt to seeing people they cared for dying so often. Improvement in quality of life for patients is the key mission of the palliative care which should be the driving force for all nurses (Hanson, Henderson, & Menon,…
Great spiritual, physical and emotional changes occur as an individual nears the end of a terminal illness, and hospice care is here to help you and your family deal with all of them. Hospice care helps both the individual and their family to cope changing care needs by offering emotional support as well as providing palliative care. Palliative care eases pain and makes the body's physical changes more comfortable. We are proud to support those confronting their illness with grace and dignity.…
Death is a touchy subject. People pretend it is something that does not happen and refuse to talk about or address it. I am an ICU nurse. I have been for six years. I have dealt with plenty of death, in my own way. Death is a part of life. Whether it is something that is expected or not, it is our destiny. Having dealt with the suicide of my son’s father at a young age, death is something most of us avoid or do not expect. One is never prepared for it. Some refuse to accept it and move forward.Whether it is a loved one battling cancer for multiple years or a sudden suicide/death, it is never acceptable. Working in the ICU, I have seen many a prolonged death. Family members are never prepared for the death of a loved one. Whether or not my patient is ready to move on, family will do everything possible to prolong the death in hopes that the patient’s condition will improve or a “new” cure will save their lives. I have gone through spending an hour resuscitating a 20 year old with severe congestive heart failure to taking my time resuscitating a 98 year old riddled with cancer. Regardless of my beliefs, it is never easy for family members to accept their loved ones are no longer among us. I have mixed views about death regarding a person battling cancer. Many a times I have had a patient who is a “full code,” all life saving efforts to be attempted, that has metastasis of cancer to their liver, brain, and bones requesting all life saving efforts. In the medical community, we know life saving efforts are futile. The patient is in so much pain they can hardly stand it. They have no quality of life. Family members are hopeful that some medication will take effect and the cancer will disappear. But, by law, we are to make every effort possible at resuscitation. If a person has a good prognosis in surviving cancer, every effort should be made to prolong the person’s life. If the cancer has metastized and is now affecting other organs, brain, bone…
It is evident that social class has an impact or influences how older people are treated in terms of rights and needs in later life. An older person of high class who once had a high occupational status is more likely to accumulate some advantages compared to those of lower social class. It is logic that a person who once had a good job is expected to have more financial security once they retire. For these reasons, they have access to better health care "or other special treatment not available to less favored people who lack connections "(296).Old people belonging to the minority here in the U.S such as Latinos, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and many more are far less likely to have a good health plan or get admitted…
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…