Palliative Care Essay

The World Health Organisation (2010) defines palliative care as: An approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual. It is also our duty to support John and his wife`s in their decision for John to die at home, Department of health (2008) patients should have a choice over the care they receive and where.

A survey was conducted in 2000 on more than 9,000 patients discharged from more than 2,000 hospices on the services they received (Carlson, 2007). It revealed that 22% of them received five major palliative care services, which varied among the hospices. These palliative care services were nursing care, physician care, medication management, psychological care, and caregiver support. Approximately 14% of the hospices provided all five services and 33% provided only one or two services. Only 59% of these patients received medication management services. These included administering medication, dispensing correct dosages, and setting and following dosage schedule.

When a patient is expected to live six months or less is when hospice is referred. Although many hospice patients have cancer as their primary diagnosis, hospice provides care to patients of all ages who are dealing with any potentially life-limiting illness, including Alzheimer’s, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, and emphysema. Once the patient has been diagnosed and chooses hospice care, this can generally take place at home or as in-patient care. Hospice neither prolongs life nor hastens death, but controls pain and discomfort allowing a person to live as fully and comfortably as possible during life’s final journey (“Career”).

This essay discusses the core principles of long-term conditions and management. Government guidelines and standards are also discussed in relation to how these will impact the care of the patients who are experiencing long term conditions. The reports, guidelines and plans that play an important role in directing the current nursing system today, are discussed with regard to the management of chronic conditions and lastly, palliative care and outcomes from the publication “Together for Health – Delivering End of Life Care” (2013)

Palliative care is a relatively new concept, stemming from the hospice movement of the 1960s. This type of care focuses on the quality of life of its patients at any time in their treatment process. Palliative care is a concept that is often used synonymously with hospice care. Although it can be congregated with hospice care, they are not the same thing. Thus, it can easily be misunderstood. Sherner (2015) explains that both clinicians and people alternate palliative care and hospice. Unfortunately, she says, these people believe that palliative care implies the patient is refusing curative care. The purpose of this analysis is to explore the concept, clarify the meaning, and differentiate the concept of palliative care.

According to Allen et al. (2012), “millions of people with chronic illnesses endure unrelieved pain, uncontrolled physical symptoms and unresolved psychosocial or spiritual problems.” This issue occurs because palliative care is often considered a form of end-of-life care. Palliative care is a treatment that can be used for patients who suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases while receiving curative treatment. (Horowitz, Grambling & Quill, 2014) purposely states the misconceptions of palliative care and advocated for seriously ill patients that education must bring under control the misconceptions. Some patients do not receive appropriate symptom management because the palliative care treatment needed is often confused with end-of-life care. However, end-of-life care attempts to relieve pain and suffering when a disease is no longer responsive to curative treatment. Pain and suffering could ultimately be controlled or even eliminated through the proper utilization of palliative care. Patients who are not referred to palliative care in a timely manner is more likely to have poor quality of life, uncontrolled symptom management and increased amounts of visits to the emergency room during the disease process. Patients with life limiting illnesses bear the burden of increased discomfort and increased suffering. Nurses experience clinical practice issues and difficulties in the clinical setting during the delivery of comfort and symptom management. These issues

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

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

I have always believed that health cannot be optimized through the treatment of disease only. Rather, health should be addressed on a biological, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual continuum. Palliative care addresses an often-overlooked aspect of the patient experience, which is symptom management of their chronic illnesses. Health care professionals tend to treat acute episodes of

Palliative care helps patients suffering from progressive cancer by improving that person’s quality of life.

Palliative care is designed to holistically individualize symptom management with the intention of increasing quality of life for each individual patient. Palliative care providers use therapeutic relationship skills help establish a trusting relationship with each individual patient. It is important for health care providers and nurses to learn more about the importance of palliative care so that the barriers can be overcome. The use of the HNT in palliative care can help in the creation of middle range and mirco range theories that are specific to clinical situations. It is also important for nurses and health care provider to use critical thinking skill when determining the right course of action for each individual patient. The goal of

Before I started this class I thought palliative care was only used as end of life care, or for when a curative treatment was unavailable or had failed. As we learned about the different models of care, and how they have changed over the years, it became evident that the use of palliative care has changed drastically over the past several decades. In the 1800s to 1900s, palliative care was only used once the patient had reached the dying stage, and only included the patient in this care, not their families1. Before taking this course, this is what I thought of palliative care as well. Since the late 1900s though, palliative care has been used in a more proactive approach. From the moment an individual receives a life threatening illness, palliative care begins. This includes caring for the family of the patient as well. This care increases as the patient’s illness progresses, and even continues for the family after the death of the patient. Learning this has really made an impact on how I would like to work as a

According to O’Quinn, L. P., & Giambra, B. K. (2014) the World health organization 1995 defines quality of life as “an individual’s perception of their position in life, in the context of culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns”. According to Gestsdottir, B., Hjaltadottir, I., Gudmannsdottir, G. D., Jonsson, P. V., Gunnarsdottir, S., & Sigurđardottir, V. (2015) studies show that palliative patients often endure incapacitating symptoms, which include but are not limited to fatigue, pain, dyspnea and lack of nutrition. Managing symptoms is one of the many focuses of palliative

Everyone human being need requires proper medical care whether there are in good or in bad health. Most people however doesn't like to visit medical center until they have serious health issues. Today there are so many cases of patient living with "terminal" illnesses that cannot be cure and would eventually kill the patient. However, these diseases can be managed with medicines hence giving the patient a prolonged life but under medication. These patient require a special type of care called palliative care, which is defined by CRETO as "a type of care focused on providing patient with relief from the symptom, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis (Sarah piper). Palliative care is provided by a team of specialists and

Palliative care is designed for individuals who have chronic, long-term and severe illnesses. This care option is available for patients with diverse illnesses like kidney failure, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, ADIS and other chronic diseases. No matter how old or young the patient is, our staff members provide them with the support and care that they need.