A Nursing Perspective

This author’s personal perceptions concerning patients facing a lingering terminal illness, have been shaped by over 20 years of critical care nursing experience. Facing death and illness on a daily basis requires self-examination and a high degree of comfort with one’s own mortality, limits and values. Constant exposure to the fragility of life forces respect for the whole person and the people who love them. A general approach to patients who are actively dying is to allow them to define what they want and need during this time. The nurse’s role

On reading this article and identifying the study, there was a clear insight on how death and dying, and even improved health, impacted those nurses (Conte, 2014). Nurses, who worked closely with their patients, through the perils and suffering, culminating of death and losses, had grief not readily explored to enable that comfort zone (Conte, 2014).

The purpose of this assignment is to enable the student, myself, to rediscover his or her personal philosophy of nursing as it exists upon the completion of the baccalaureate nursing program. Throughout the semesters, the view I had on what nursing meant to me has grown deeper, but one thing has stayed the same; my philosophy. In my philosophy project from the very first semester, I stated that nursing involves many different parts that all come together to make one great final end product, just like cookies. I compared nursing parts and all the different items nurses bring into the field, to being similar to the ingredients used to make cookies. I still believe that nursing is comprised of many different parts that all come together in order to give the best patient care possible. The personal philosophy paper now is an extension on that first semester’s assignment, to show the growth and development I have had while in this nursing program. It will explore what my personal definition of nursing is, the purpose of nursing, what assumptions in nursing there are, and will conclude with the principles of nursing.

The journey to development of my personal philosophy of nursing quite possibly began in my preteen and teenage years. It was brought about from experiences I had when I was doing missions work in Mexico. While these missions left quite an impact upon me, it did not end there. Time, age, experience and education also played critical roles in development of my personal nursing philosophy. These factors have helped my nursing philosophy grow and has allowed me to refine it. The purpose of this paper is to identify according to my views, what nursing is, my perspective of nursing, values and beliefs about nursing, ascertain two principles or rules that guide my nursing practice, and finally a reflection and conclusion.

Nurses: Assist the patients and families to cope with the end-of-life process such as assessing and

Have you ever gone to the Doctors before? The person who weighed you and took your temperature before you got to see the doctor was a nurse. A Nurse is – (verb) 1 to take care of (as a young child or a sick person) 2 to treat with special care ("Webster's dictionary & thesauras for students”). One thing I knew before I started researching is there are many different kinds of nursing. In this paper I will be exploring two different branches of nursing Hospice and Home Health Care.

This is recognized to be an issue, and throughout the article the authors provided an understanding of how palliative care and end-of-life care are provided too late for a patient and should be provided at an earlier time in order to bring more comfort to the patients. The authors suggest that when and how end-of-life care is provided should be altered, with nursing ethics in mind, so that patients and nurses may feel better about the care they receive. This source will help my research by providing information on how changing the policies of end-of-life care and palliative care can result in the patient feeling a relief from their suffering and ultimately feeling more comfortable. This will also help my argument in how altering the current policies and focusing on providing better end-of-life care can lead to the diminishment of physician-assisted

In relation to the purpose of this study, the driving force behind the research are three questions. What are nurses experience following patient’s death? What are their actions and coping strategies following patient death? Would better learning opportunities and supportive practice environments be provided once there is an understanding of nurses’ grief and coping process, if yes, was it beneficial. The researchers proceeded with a broad question which allowed the focus to be sharpened and delineated later in the

Palliative care is essential for patients who are dying. Towards an end of patient’s life, it is crucial to conserve patient dignity while giving them care. The article describes dying with dignity is maintaining individual value and worth, receiving care with respect and empathy, allowing the patient to have a voice in their dying process. And decrease physical and emotional pain, providing privacy, having an emotional connection with others, resolving all person affairs, and having access to spiritual resources (Johnston, Östlund, & Brown p.11, 2010). Every individual has a different meaning and perspective on death, which is often shaped by their background, culture, historical and social construction. Nurses

Palliative care is the active holistic care of terminally ill patients, which demands to maintain the quality of life addressing physical symptoms as well as emotional, spiritual and social needs. Palliative care is a difficult time for everybody involved. There are many issues that can occur in end of life (EOL) palliative care, especially when the patient is unconscious. The case study of Mrs Mavis looks at issues experienced by the patient and patients family in EOL care. Mrs Mavis is a palliative patient who has progressed into unconsciousness. Mrs Mavis has an advanced care directive (ACD) in place stating that she would only like to receive pain management and comfort measures. The Mavis family are experiencing some issues in regards to her care, they feel that she should be receiving oxygen for her altered breathing and more should be done to treat her. The Mrs Mavis case study presents numerous issues such as advanced care statements, altered breathing, family grief and emotional support, pain management, comfort measures and hygiene and levels of care. This paper focuses on pain management, advanced care directive education and emotional support of the family and carers in relation to the Mrs Mavis scenario presented in the case study.

As, the Nurses spent much time with patient rather than any other health professionals they know the patients well and how well they can cope with highly toxic and technically life prolonging treatments. They can provide support to the patient to overcome the burnt, fear and anxiety as well the family as the end of life approaches near (Ferrell, Coyle & Paice, 2014). They play a very important role in pain management which is really difficult to administer in terminally ill patients.The Nurses can develop a strong communication with the patient and their whanau, assess needs and problems of the patient, and interact with other professional team involved in the care developing a patient oriented plan of care for quality of living and implementing it accordingly. They play a role of mediator in between doctor and the patients and often panicked family members and provide information regarding the progression of disease, care plan and treatments provided with the expected outcomes (Wittenberg-Lyes, Goldsmith & Ragan, 2011). Moreover, they help patients and their family members in decision making for the further treatments and care plans including life prolonging interventions to ensure quality of living and dying of the patient. Hence, providing physical comfort for the patient, emotional support, supporting the family members,

Objectives: This paper seeks to understand the importance of care in the last stage of life and see if all the graduates / as of Nursing in Spain receive sufficient training on death and care at the end of life. Determine whether there are differences between universities in the type of training received by future nurses.

Objective: To know the contributions of the educational process in Palliative Care during the undergraduate level for the professional action of nurses in the care of patients at the end of life. Methods: This is a qualitative research, with discursive thematic analysis, based on Morin’s theory of complexity. It was attended by seven newly-trained nurses and six nursing teachers from a Nursing Undergraduate Course. Results: It has found disruptions and the development of new ways of thinking and caring for patients at the end of life, highlighting that these patients should be treated with therapies to mitigate their signs and symptoms until death, focusing on quality of life; moreover, their psychosocial and spiritual aspects should be appreciated.

I have been a registered nurse at UCLA for 18 months. One particular issue that has captured my attention is the utilization of palliative care in health care. Because nurses are generally at the bedside all the time, they have an important role to play in voicing the importance of its utilization and implementation in the patient’s care.

The case study based on the palliative patient Mrs. Mavis looks at issues both the family and the patient are dealing with in regards to the end of life treatment Mrs. Mavis is receiving. Mrs. Mavis is a palliative patient, currently unconscious, who is dying and only wants comfort measures within her nursing care. This was made clear through her advanced care directive, which was made weeks before beginning to receive her end of life care. Mrs. Mavis’ comfort measures include pain relief, hygiene and keeping her comfortable. Mrs. Mavis’ family want her to have fluids and medications to help improve her health. They also want oxygen and pain relief to help with her breathing. Issues such as educating and supporting the family, pain management, the effectiveness of having an advanced care directive and pain assessment will be evaluated to determine the best effective interventions for Mrs. Mavis and her families care. Interventions that will be discussed through-out this essay include the use of analgesia medication, the use of subcutaneous injections and syringe drivers, emotional support for the family, effective communication, educating the family on Mrs. Mavis’ wishes and the importance of having an advanced care directive. These interventions will be evaluated to ensure they are the best practice for Mrs. Mavis’ care.