Hospice Scenarios

Hospice exists in the hope and belief that, through proper care and the encouragement of a caring and sensitive team, patients and their families may be free to achieve some level of mental and spiritual preparation for death that is comfortable to them. The goal is to help

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 patients often receive palliative care to help them cope with the stress, pain, and anxiety that comes with hospice care. Galfin, Watkins, and Harlow (2011) explored the need to train palliative care nurses how to provide not just physical care, but also psychological care. The authors reference previous studies that addressed similar training programs, but point out that many lack an explanation of what the palliative care entails, or statistical evidence to show if guided self-help improved patient’s psychological distress.

The first hospice care was established in 1974. A hospice must make physician, nursing, drugs, and medical supply services available 24/7. It must have social workers and counseling services available to the patient and the family. Hospice also provides therapy and homemaker services when needed in order to be qualified under Medicare certification. Hospice is a combination of special services for terminal ill patients. Beside the medical service, hospice care also supports patients and family psychologically and spiritually to put their emotional suffering at ease. The psychological suffering can weight more than physical suffering. Many terminal ill patients cannot accept the bad news and living under emotional distress. Certified chaplains can work with people from different religions, they focus on the world-view of the patient and family. Using patient personal goal as the measurement, chaplains are the

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 crusade in the United States has advanced over the past 25 years. The focus of hospice is comprehensive physical, psychosocial, emotional and spiritual therapy in people, who are terminally ill and their families. Hospice providers are helping the quality of life by whenever they can, instead of hospitals, protecting patients treated at home from the burden and provide intervention. Hospice nurses are mainly in accordance with the 1983 Medicare Benefits Act, guidelines of the federal program that allows the patient to die in their own home with family and friends at their next offer treatment (Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow, n.d).

In nursing, the goal of care is usually to restore the patient back to the highest level of health possible. In some cases, however, the goals of care change when a curative approach is no longer appropriate. The new goals of care could simply be palliation and pain control rather than a restoration back to full health. This type of care is called palliative care. Palliative care is not the same as end-of-life care, but the two go hand-in-hand at times. The goal of end-of-life care is a “good” death, good being defined by the patient. Palliation is part of that “good” death. Both palliative care and end-of-life

    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

Hospice is a special healthcare option for patients and families faced with a terminal illness. At Hospice there’s a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses social workers, bereavement counselors and volunteers that work together to address the physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs of each patient and

Hospice and palliative care are still new concepts to many that come into the facility. While the process and the goals of palliative and hospice care can be described to the patients and family members, the terminology and interpretation may be challenged by their previous beliefs and ideologies. However, after careful counseling and education, many family members agree to undergo hospice or palliative care at the appropriate time. Considering that five years ago, hospice utilization in the workplace was scarce in comparison to today where there is an entire unit devoted to promoting palliative and hospice care, it can be said that these new forms of care are becoming accepted practices with favorable

Gilda also witnessed her mother struggle with cancer, and watched the Hospice nurses and staff provide care and support to Gilda’s mother and family, and ultimately decided that she too wanted to assist people cope with grief and loss and the end of process. On the other hand, both Michele and Pamela started their careers in the medical field outside of Hospice and found their way to the Hospice program with time and experience. Pamela believed that there was a need for LPN is within the Hospice agency, and started her work as an LPN working with Hospice patients in their homes. Michele started as a nurse when she started working for Hospice and after a few years, she was promoted to a care provider liaison, working with and advocating on behalf of Hospice patients who reside in assisted living facilities.

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

Dying due to an incurable illness can be devastating With responsibility of caretaking falling chiefly on the patient’s family. While dealing with the normal every day activities that families encounter, becoming a primary caregiver to the terminally ill is an emotional as well as financial burden. The ill person usually lives in the house of a family member, which forces the family to witness the person dying every day. Having to watch a person suffer in your own home is depressing to even the strongest of people and knowing there is nothing that can be done to stop their pain makes things that much worse. Studies have shown that people who receive a terminal illness diagnosis become depressed and develop anxiety. Because of the mood disorders that can

This study supported the idea of receiving hospice or palliative would be beneficial for patients and primary caregivers which reduce the negative symptoms and have an advantage for receiving hospice or palliative care which also support and be relevant to the thesis that I would like to research on.

K., Brajtman, S., Cragg, B., & Macdonald, M. E. p.962). Family members have described emotions of fear, shame, and guilt concerning their loved ones delirious behavior, wells as the ways they themselves responded to them during difficult relational encounters. Helping the family realizes that their family member is suffering with delirium. That is why they acting in disturbing way, and was suffering from an illness and they are not them normal selves. The final days of a loved one’s life are painful and hard for many. Having hospice caregivers present relax the family because they know their loved one would be taken care of.