Hospice Patients: A Case Study

Hospice bereavement programs focus on different aspects for family members. One is in helping family members to understand and move forward in the grief process. In order to do this, they must express their inner thoughts and feelings, but also, one must help them in identifying or developing and utilizing healthy coping strategies. This leads families into using this program to help them solve the problem and adjust towards the loss of their loved one. Also, it is essential to give guidance and assist these family members in decisions relative to the loss. Another factor that should be addressed is cultural and spiritual concerns because it is an important value in most people’s lives. In understanding the family member’s spiritual and cultural

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

The purpose of this paper is to examine communication strategies related to palliative and end-of-life care with a focus on Aboriginal clients. Firstly, I will explain the role of cultural competence in the nursing care of an Aboriginal client. Secondly, I will argue the cultural challenges a nurse may face when caring and communicating with Aboriginal clients receiving palliative end-of-life care. Thirdly, I will present solutions to the aforementioned communicative challenges. Lastly, I will discuss the impact I believe this experience may have on my future practice.

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

I do home health CNA jobs and trying to get in to be a CNA in a hospice home health and later on, I would like to be a visiting nurse to a hospice patients. I conducted an interview to one hospice psychologist I know and the information I’ve learned is intense and I’ve realized that I wanted to know more about this field. So what is hospice? Hospice is a program of care for terminally ill patients and their love ones; it’s a program about life and about living life to the fullest until the end. One professional that can help what’s they are going through is psychologist. They assessed what the patient and family needs and help them to understand and evaluate the options that meet their needs. Many psychologist have compassion working on hospice,

Hospice care main goal is to provide comfort then treating the person disease. Normally patients that live in hospice only have 6 months to live. Hospice also gives control to the patient in methods of their own death. Many patients will rather take a liquid substance that will slowly put them to rest, while others will have alternative plans on how they want to deal with their last stages of life. Hospice is also great at giving the patient many options when there trying to make decision on their death. Hospice overall wants to improve the quality of life and their finial wishes.

Long-term care and hospice are just two of many healthcare delivery systems available across the World. According to textbook, Comparative Health Information Management written by Ann H. Peden, long-term care refers to caring for elderly, institutionalized people and those who are permanent residents of a nursing facility (2015, p. 354). On the contrary, Peden defines hospice as "a facility or program designed to provide a caring environment to meet the physical and emotional needs of terminally ill patients and their families and significant others" (2015, p. 479). Although on the surface each of these facilities may seem alike, when comparing the two as this paper will do, there are many differences.

The United States needs to provide more hospice care awareness. Hospice care provides services for individuals who have six months or less to live. They are able to enjoy the end of their lives rather than using physician assisted suicide.

Caring for an elderly parent is very difficult, especially if you do not have any assistance. This can be very demanding on the family and not everyone is up for this task. Hospice provides a service that takes a lot of this pressure off the family. They are there to provide and cater to the dying patient, so they are comfortable in their last few days before moving on.

According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in 2013, 1.5 to 1.6 million individuals were in hospice or palliative care services. Also, hospice and palliative care services are most widely used by individuals 65 and older or adults with cancer being their primary diagnosis (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2014. power point 1-18).

Choice, Control, Care and Support towards the End of Life Patient case study: An 82-year-old JM admitted with chest infection and shortness of breath. Due to shortness of breath he was having reduced mobility and unable to undertake activity of daily task. Patient had a past medical history of Cancer of prostate end stage. Patients condition deteriorated very quickly and patient preferred choice was home as informed decision was done in advance. He lives in a three-bed house, usually independent with activity of daily living.

focused on diseases, not people because of the fact that it is more compelling to reflect health

For most people who are at the final stages of life, a hospice care is where life official ends. Some patients prefer not to die in a hospice care. Some patients are unable to decide where they want to die. For their surviving loved ones, they would make the final decision for their loved one. When family members know that their loved one is dying, their loved one's home is likely where they want to spend their final hours or days in. Caregivers often decide to place their patient in a hospice care where they can passed away in peace.

Because they finally convinced that the hospice is the better place for Marcelo to live the few rest of his life. It also good place to provide help to Marcelo’s wife to take care of her husband in the few end days of his life. I still remember the last three weeks of my mother’s life when her doctor did not allow her to stay in the hospital because she was going to die, and I asked him to keep her in the hospital so I could find help from a nurse to change her clothe and gave her a shower etc. Particularly, her stomach bulged, becoming so I was unable to carry her.

In an article by Denise K Betcher, which appeared in MEDSIRG Nursing-March/April 2010. The author reports an educational project to improve compassionate and effective communication between nurses and palliative care patients in the south west United States. American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) competency includes communication in end-of-life care. The author noted that Jean Watson (1981) suggested that nursing is taking care of patients with paying close attention to understand their emotional reactions and their experience of being patients.