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Quality of Life and Functioning

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Quality of Life and Functioning What does the phrase “quality of life” mean? Does it have an actual definition? The answer may not be as clear as one would expect because the concept of “quality of life” can vary from one person to the next based on the values of the individual in question. The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality of life of a patient with a cancer and describe an appropriate nursing care plan based on the patient’s values.
Personal Perceptions Personal perceptions about quality of life and health promotion can greatly influence an individual nurse when attempting to create a plan of care for a patient with a lingering illness. I have worked in home health care setting as a visiting nurse and have …show more content…

He never could give me an actual reason for why he did not want an aide to assist him but I learned that he did not need to give me a reason. We were dealing with his life, his illness and his care plan based on his definition of quality of life, not mine. Being able to understand how my own personal perceptions influenced my nursing care was something that nursing school simply could not teach me. I could identify my own personal values on controversial topics such as abortion, drug use or rape but it was not until I started actually caring for patients in their homes that I started to understand what quality of life and level of functioning meant to an individual. I no longer argued over the need for a home health aide, increased pain management or tried to convince an individual that they needed placement in a nursing home. I started listening to my patients and often began conversations by asking them what they wanted out of their life. In nursing school, I learned to create a care plan based off of diagnosis. In real life, I learned to create a care plan based off of an individual patient.
Strategies
Before any strategies can be developed in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, the patient and her husband must identify their own definition of quality of life. By finding out what these two individuals value a better nursing care plan can be created. The scenario given does not identify if Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have any specific religious

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