Hospice Rotation. Introduction. In The Hospice Rotation

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

A is an 87 year old women, with a long history of health troubles including chronic kidney disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, a pacemaker insertion for her atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, colon cancer, breast cancer, mild cognitive impairment and most recently paranoid psychosis.

Hospice is a philosophy of care. It treats the person rather than the disease and focuses on quality of life. It surrounds the patient and family with a team consisting of professionals who not only address physical distress, but emotional and spiritual issues as well. Hospice care is patient-centered because the needs of the patient and family drive the activities of the hospice team.

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

The doctors were pretty sure that Pierre had less than 6 months to live, so he fell well within the guidelines for hospice coverage. Should hospice coverage be limited to those with 6 months or less to live, or should other be covered? 6 months is a random figure and I think that the covering other could help families deal with hospice care a little better; it would give them a better understanding of what hospice-type services is entailed. It also could be too expensive for covering others and how can you know for sure if 6 months is suitable.

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,

The resident is an 88-year-old Caucasian male who has been married for 63 years along with a long-term care living arrangement. He has medical diagnoses of generalized muscle weakness, cutaneous abscess of buttocks, and lack of coordination. The resident rated his health status as a score of “7” because he stated that he felt pretty energetic most of the time.

This section examines the literature relevant to the efficacy of supervision in hospice professional as it relates to job burnout among them. This question is an important one because hospice professionals cope with loss on their job frequently. An unique challenge that is faced by hospice professionals is that every patient they care for will die and this leaves the grieving family to be supported. The care that hospice professionals provide requires them to become an intimate part of the patients live. The need for effective supervisions is highly needed in hospice professionals and is crucial in aiding them to serve patients and families in challenging times. This section will highlight research that documents severity

There is a time to be born, and a time to die. As frightening as it is, we will all die someday. Some will die at birth, some in a tragic accident, and others from a natural cause. The average person will live a full life, and die in old age. Cancers and other deadly diseases are becoming more prominent in our culture, the demand for end of life care is becoming substantial. Hospice nurses provide near death care, and attend to the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs of the terminally ill patient. Hospice nursing would not be the perfect job for all nurses, it takes a nurse with a special heart, and calling to specialize in the hospice field.

MSW contacted Bambi earlier that day to clarify if they would allow the hospice team to care for the patient while on long term at Lake Hills. Bambi verbalized the Pt would be allowed the needed hospice care while admitted. Bambie stated she and her team will discuss the patient's case and will have an answer regarding patient being accepted or not. MSW met with Pt and both daughters to discuss about the status regarding the patient being transferred/admitted to Lake Hills Inn. MSW informed daughters that RN Jennifer received signed orders from physician, faxed order, med list, H&P, and type of insurance to Lake Hills Inn on 08/03/15. MSW contacted Bambi to check up on a update for an possible admission for the Pt. Bambi stated the referral has been denied because the

You have made excellent points. I do not believe that health care professionals neglect to treat patients in palliative care in the correct settings. The care one receives is based on what type of locations they are in. Hospitals and hospice centers often have employees with higher education levels and an increased passion for their job. I believe that health care providers want to ensure that one is comfortable at the end of life. I have visited Alive Hospice here in Nashville and was able to see the the great amount of care they provided to their patients. I have attached a link to their website below. I am curious to know your opinion on why you think one would not receive adequate care at the end-of-life phase.

When I thought of Hospice, I thought of sick elderly people who are unable to do anything for themselves and are bedridden. I did not think about all the roles that the hospice nurse plays while working or even when they are not working. I did not think of the families of the patients we would visit or what they might be going through, because I have not been exposed to Hospice. I have taken care of people that were on comfort care, but Hospice was different. I enjoyed my experience following the Hospice nurse and visiting different patients. We only had three patients to visit, but I was still able to learn new lessons.

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.

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.

The first assessment was the Tinetti balance and gait test. DM scored extremely well and showed no signs of impaired gait or balance during the test and scored the maximum amount of points. On the Katz Index of Activities of Daily Living, DM scored six out of six points, which means she is completely independent on all of her ADL’s. In assessing DM’s assessment of home safety, I did find some potential hazards in her bathroom. Loose rugs and a low toilet seat can increase her risk of falls. We also discussed the possibility of obtaining a medical alert device when and if the time is right. She was open to suggestions and removed the hazardous rugs from the bathroom floor. The last test was the Barthel Index test and DM also showed complete independence and scored 100 out of 100 points. All the tests are itemized and noted in the