Palliative medicine

Through time, there has always been a question on the idea of another supernatural being, a greater power, or a God. People have grown up and been taught certain beliefs, and some have developed their own beliefs based on this idea of a higher power. There are then those who don’t believe in any such thing; they believe in the facts presented to them. As a whole, the specifics of this idea vary, and as a nurse, understanding of this must be achieved to successfully care for a patient. Hospitals are

identification of terminal illness, predictions of associated pain and suffering, as well as timeline towards diminishing quality of life. Method and accuracy of palliative prognostics in terminal illness is actively studied in the medical academic arena. Maltoni et al.’s 2012 study concludes survival probabilities using the Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP) method has been extensively validated resulting in high accuracy and reproducibility (p. 446). This greater understanding of life expectancy

sometimes uses such terms as terminal care, end of life care, palliative care and hospice care interchangeably, it should be understood that such usage is reflective of a commonality of attributes. The definition of these terms is somewhat imprecise. Hui et al, (2013) in their review of books, dictionaries, and peer-reviewed articles, “found thirteen, twenty-four, and seventeen different definitions for supportive care/ best supportive care, palliative care, and hospice care, respectively” (p. 659). Contemporary

Palliative Care The role of the expert palliative care nurse is complex and unique. The nurse functions as an integral part of a Multidisciplinary team, providing expert skilled assessment and nursing care, supporting the patient and the family to make informed choices thereby encouraging the patient to continue to make autonomous decisions about their care towards the end of their life. However, often the nurse will find herself dealing with difficult family dynamics with family members

According to the American Nurses Association, the definition of nursing is, "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations. (as retrieved from ANA, 2016)" Nursing is a comprehensive profession with one goal; to take care of patients. There are many

health care in the home ensures further comfort and heightening that sense of confidence with the palliative system. As patients are in their home, loved ones have an opportunity to be more involved in their care as they have constant access to the health care team, as well as a defined safety and care plan which helps in reducing some of the stressors that the family may experience during the palliative period of their loved one. As care progresses, the relationship built with the health care team

Lillis, LeMone, & Lynn, 2011, p. 1550). Hospice care providers are more concentrated on making the patient comfortable rather than trying to improve their health. Their job is to accommodate their patients’ needs to maintain a peaceful path to death. Palliative care plays an important

process of growing old in a modern age. Overall, I have found that three overpowering themes in this novel are security versus autonomy, a need for pragmatism surrounding the concept of death, and our medicalized society’s devaluation of hospice and palliative care. Regarding these themes, I have chosen to reflect on my grandparents, death in the West and social role valorization, respectively. 2. Security Versus Autonomy An especially relevant theme to Gawande’s Being Mortal is the spectrum of security

安寧緩和療護的道德研究與探討 中華民國一○一年六月 壹、摘要 本論文的寫作目的，主要是要探討安寧緩和療護的存在所引起道德方面上的爭議。雖然安寧病房之所以會存在，是不想讓那些得了絕症或治療過程極其痛苦的病患繼續受苦，因而放棄治療，讓他們能夠儘可能安詳的走完最後一程；但是從另一個觀點來看，安寧照護也可以被視為消極的間接殺人；若病人無法接受臨終事實，但醫護人員及家屬共同決定不告知臨終事實，依社會工作「案主自決」原則，顯有違專業倫理；當病患意願與醫療理性相左時，如何進行溝通等諸如此類議題，正相繼衝擊安寧緩和醫療團隊、臨終為不可逆事件，即使病人不願或不肯接受實情，但知的權利仍不應輕言剝奪；醫護人員及家屬應如何協商，讓病患有機會參與重大決策，不致覺得只能自己孤獨面對死亡？這些情形非常值得我們探討。 貳、何謂安寧緩和療護 根據世界衛生組織（WHO）的規範，安寧緩和醫療照顧提供罹患無法治癒疾病的病人，積極性的全方位照顧。緩和醫療照顧是肯定生命，視死亡為自然的過程，不提早也不延後死亡，積極提供疼痛及其他窘迫症狀的緩解，提供支持系統，幫助病人盡可能提升生命品質，幫助家人度過病人生病與其身後期間所遭遇的種種壓力。

physician-assisted suicide is a "Medical doctor helping a patient to die by prescribing a lethal overdose." Although the circumstances of being terminally ill and people wanting medical assistance to help them commit suicide has been around since medicine has, the idea and practice of euthanasia and PAS