Helping Caregivers Overcome The Mental And Physical Stress Of Caring For Hospice Patients Essay

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

Hospice is compassionate care provided to patients facing terminal illness or illness for which there is no cure. These patients are diagnosed with an illness from which they will never recover and usually have a life prognosis of six months or less (Hospice Foundation of America, 2014). The goal of hospice care is improving quality of life and managing the symptoms of disease and the dying process. The care hospice offers is focused on pain management and emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and family (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2012). Hospice care can be provided in many different settings, often the patient’s own home. Hospice care can also be provided in hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and free-standing hospice centers and is available to patients of all ages (NHPCO, 2012). A patient receiving care in a hospice program has a team of healthcare individuals that can consist of the patients own physician, nurses, home health aides, clergy, social workers, and speech and physical therapists (NHPCO, 2012). Usually, a care plan is developed by the hospice team and care of the patient is provided by family members with the support of the hospice staff (NHPCO, 2012). Nurses make regular visits to the patient and family and are on call 24/7. Once enrolled in a hospice program hospice covers everything that will be needed to care for you, from medications to manage pain to

Hospice psychologist work is to conduct some research to understand the psychological aspects of caring terminally ill patients and their families.

    At some point in a terminally ill person 's life, there comes a time when all treatment options have been exhausted, and patient comfort is the number one priority. During this process, hospice care comes into play to ensure quality of life of a patient. Pain management and supportive services are provided to anyone who is willing by Medicare, and other government assistance programs, for individuals and families that cannot afford private home care. These services are provided by a trained group of professionals, including; Doctors, Nurses, Counselors, Social workers, Physical therapists, Volunteers and Chaplains. There are different types of hospice

The authors MacKinnon, Smith, Henry, Milman, Berish, Farrace, Korner, Chochinov, and Cohen (2016) revealed a receipt of the several financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article. The Canadian institute of Health Research (CIHR) studentship to the main author: the CIHR/Canadian Cancer Society Stratiegic Training Program in Palliative Care Research and the Family Caregiving at End of Life New Emerging Team (Mackinnon, Smith, Henry, Milman, Berish, Farrace, Cohen, 2016).

According to the article by DiMartino at el. (2014), Cancer is considered the second leading cause of death in the United States and majority of patients that are diagnosed with cancer will die from these disease without receiving proper care, such as hospice. Some people in the United States and other places all over the world believe in a myth that says hospice speeds up a person’s death. But, without hospice patients may feel like they are a burden to their families and they would want to die sooner. However, through this research and six articles a reader can see that, “hospice provides extra time for the families and the patient to say their goodbyes, to seek out resolutions, and find the closure that the both parties need” (Connor et

Usually, the majority of aging people spend most of their time in nursing homes where they receive specialized treatment and care that is not available in the normal home setting. What is more, the aging individuals give each other company as they interact in serene and supportive environments that promote their peace of mind. A person considering to pursue a profession in hospice nursing care should be equipped with a set of skills and knowledge base, aside from having the necessary passion that would help him/her in navigating through various hurdles. One of the most significant disadvantages of the career is that the professionals are obliged to provide care to the terminally ill; and therefore, it becomes sensitive to extend care aimed at providing emotional and spiritual support. This paper explores the form and the nature of hospice nursing. Hospice care features as a risk-based and comprehensive care

A flexible and unbiased attitude is needed in order for the caregivers methods to be effective.Jaffe and Ehrlich's purpose in writing this book is to provide people with a holistic understanding of hospice care by highlighting the many factors of hospice care, such as: pain control, nursing support, Medicare, availability of hospice programs, curriculum of medical students, sensitivity to religious beliefs, as well as the details of each area. Through their stories, they provide examples of the above areas to help the reader understand the benefits of Hospice care.This paper will provide an outline of the main points in the preface, introduction, and each of the nine chapters and appendix A; excluding the foreword, Appendix B, and Appendix C.PREFACEByock explains "the power to change public and professional attitudes lies within the stories of people's experiences in dying" (1, p. viii). This solidifies the purpose of

This protocol seeks to support caregivers of hospice patients by promoting and improving problem –solving coping ability. Researchers have studied and found D’Zurilla and Nezu’s Problem-Solving Model effective when delivered to caregivers through supportive interventions. Problem-Solving Model (PSM) has now been applied with substantial success to caregivers of end of life hospice (D’Zurilla and Nezu, 2007). Theorists D’Zurilla and Nezu developed the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) Scale, derived from their five factor Problem- Solving model. This instrument is a 35-item Likert-Type inventory that serves as a measure of problem-solving appraisal, or an individual’s attitudes, and perceptions of their problem solving behavior. The total score issued as an overall index of problem-solving ability, and the reliability and validity of this instrument have been documented extensively (Demiris, 2010). This scale will be one of the measurable outcomes used to determine the effectiveness of this protocol. In 2006, McMillan et al., developed and studied a coping skills nursing intervention labeled COPE that is based on some of the PST principles and “found that this intervention has the potential to improve quality of life for caregivers of hospice cancer patients,” (McMillan et al., 2006). The intervention “did not follow the entire PSM protocol and did not focus on caregivers’ own emotional needs, but rather focused only on practical challenges associated with caregiving tasks

This family caregiver well-being program will provide family support and discuss patient goals (Meier, 2011). For example, Family Hospice & Palliative care offers volunteer opportunities for people to help families facing end-of-life transition (Family Hospice & Palliative Care, n.d). These volunteers are called patient/family companionship and offer companionship to inpatients at the Hospice Centers as well as to those patients opting to stay in their homes (Family Hospice & Palliative Care, n.d.). The Zen Hospice Center should run an ad or promotion to solicit volunteers for family members of hospice. The center should also advertise in on their website, elder care newsletters or publications, and other local publications. As the program obtains adequate volunteers, the families of hospice care patients should attend special information sessions that provide information about the program and how to take advantage of its services. The information session should be an informal event to allow family members and volunteers a chance to meet and greet each other. The use of services are not mandatory, but are made available should families need

2014, p. 158; Agar et al. 2015, p. 1). Unfortunately, in addition to poor pain management due to a lack of knowledge of healthcare workers, emotional and spiritual neglect also frequently occur for patients with advanced dementia (Small 2007, p. 197). The effectiveness of family involvement in palliative care for the patients supported by a randomised control trail is that the case conference with their family members is associated with better maintenance of physical and mental health, and decreases in hospitalisations (Mitchell et al. 2008, p. 904). It is clear that the family members are definitely a key carer to provide person-centred care for dementia patients in the terminal phase, so their families have to be involved in the patients’

Hospice is built on the realization that not all illnesses are curable. The main goal of this “philosophy of care” is to help the client remain as comfortable as possible for the remainder of the client’s life. This type of care focuses on the four main areas of human needs: Physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. It can also be classified into different levels of care such as routine, respite, continuous care, and general in-patient. Although the majority of hospice clients are 75 years of age or older, it is reported almost ninety percent of hospice facilities in the United States have admitted terminally ill children. In any setting, with any client, the hospice nurse’s

(Whitebird, 2013) Lack of emotional support and difficulty dealing with the suffering at the end of life are key factors in the stress that the hospice nurse experiences.

The current literature suggests that adults are increasingly utilizing their authority and choosing to die at home rather than in institutions, where family members contribute substan-tially to the provision of end-of-life (EOL) care (Morris et al., 2015). Yet, despite the recog-nition of the growing role of family caregivers, there are still knowledge gaps in how to best support them as they take one these roles (Morris et al., 2015). Many individuals who are terminally ill can sometimes lose their will to participate in life activities or reach life goals due to their knowledge of an impending death. This lack of participation in life activities greatly impacts their level of QOL and the level of understanding family caregivers

During end of life care nursing plays an important role not only for the patient but also for the caregiver and family. According to Venkatasalu, Kellher and Chun Hua (2015), nurses need to be prepared for end of life care, especially since four out of five nurses lack the needed training and education in end of life care. Training nurses in tasks can be difficult with time restraints and the willingness of the nurses to be trained. Each nurse has to want to be train and want to participate in end of life care. Nursing has a responsibility to properly educate the caregiver on end of life care which should include self-care. Caregivers need to be educated by the nurses on the importance of the physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological dependencies in order to be able to serve as a caregiver (Lira Borges, Pinheiro Cunha, Andrade Silva, Almeida Rocha, & Freitas, (2015). Nurses play a pivotal role in preparing the caregivers to be able to provide the care that is needed by the patient and also to help reduce the stress and anxiety that a caregiver could face.