End Of Life Care Scenarios

Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Associate Justice of the U.S Supreme Court, is soon up for a vote to join their rankings. The article proceeds to mention a book that Judge Gorsuch wrote in 2006 and his stand-point on the matter of End-of-Life Care where he is against the idea. The article switches to the perspective of Dan Diaz, the husband of a patient who needed medical aid in dying after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. Diaz says that if Gorsuch would have been in his position at the time of his wife’s situation he would have a different outlook towards medical aid in

Death is an experience that we will all have to encounter at some stage in life, but for those with elderly parents or relatives, the experience becomes more real. “The experience of dying not only affects the person who is dying but also caregivers, family members, and friends who are left behind” (Osterbur, 2015, p. 102 ) and I can associate with that. My maternal grandmother suffered a major stroke and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  She died in the hospital 2 years ago. Unfortunately, she was not a recipient of hospice care and the task of caring for her was done at home with the help of a hired aide and family members. Novak (2012), explains that many are faced with the dilemma of institutional death or at home and the decision to prolong care or end treatment can be burdensome (p. 411). It was an uphill battle and emotionally draining for my mom and

Palliative care is a type of health care for clients and families facing life-threatening illness. It helps clients to achieve the best possible quality of life right up until end of life.

The Case of Mrs. Wells This is a case about 73-year-old women from Chicago, Illinois, named Mrs. Wells. She was brought into the emergency room by her care taker and she was in respiratory distress. While in the E.R. her respiratory functions deteriorated so a referral to the ICU was made.

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

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) September 2014 Report brief- Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences near the End of Life addresses several necessities regarding end-of life (EOL) care. These necessities include; the needs and opportunities for improving EOL care, delivery of patient-centered and family-oriented care, clinician-patient communication and advance care planning, professional education and development, public education and engagement, as well as policies and payment systems to support high-quality EOL care. Taking care of the family and the patients near the end of life requires professional commitment and responsibility from all health care professionals including clinicians, clergy, caregivers, and support staff. The health system managers, payers, and policy makers also have obligation to make sure that EOL care is compassionate, affordable, sustainable, and high quality as possible. The IOM report point out that there has been a broad improvements towards the

You definitely have an interesting topic and post Genna. Involving patients and their family members in advance care planning (ACP) is an important aspect of healthcare system. It ensures aggressive symptom management, and offers patient and family centered communication and care coordination. National guidelines recommend ACP with discussions about palliative care and hospice for patients who have a life expectancy of less than 1 year. ACP allows patients to: have clear expectations of their treatment course and physical condition, specify a health care proxy with whom they have discussed their own wishes, document their own treatment preferences and discuss death and dying comfortably with their physician.

With an increasing aging population and growing numbers of individuals with chronic conditions, it is important for individuals to prepare for end-of-life care. An Advance Directive is a defined as a “legal document that provides data to critical care staff about patients’ wishes, especially when critical illness decreases decision-making ability” (McAdam, Stotts, Padilla, and Puntillo, 2005). An Advance Directive also allows for better communication between the patient and doctor, and preserves the autonomy of patients. It may also alleviate one’s family from any possible burden of uncertainty of one’s wishes. It provides guidance, which may avert arguments with family members concerning treatment choices (Cedars Sinai, 2015). The Patient

End of life care has proven to be very subpar due to poor communication between doctors and patients as well as the family of patients. According to Balaban (2000), doctors lack adequate training and education on how to discuss death with patients and their families. Balaban suggests the following four steps for doctors to construct a proper end of life discussion and plan with the dying patient; initiating the discussion, clarifying prognosis, identifying end of life goals, and developing a treatment plan. Following these four steps will help the doctor optimize communication and acknowledge death and the needs of the patients in a sympathetic manner. This will ultimately create a favorable dying process for both the patient and the patient’s

1.1 Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Holli, I also learned a lot about Medicare from watching the accompanying media two videos. I found the end of life care issues on the video interesting also. I could see the doctor's point of the extreme measures of treatment some patients were being given in end-of-life care, but I had to disagree with him on making it into a blanket coverage of stopping care after certain ages or medical conditions. I think that it needs to continue to be decided on a patient by patient basis because each individual's health condition is unique. I agree with you that if treatment is shown to be no longer of benefit to the patient, then it should no longer be covered by

Modern medicine presents caregivers with many end-of-life options. If possible, it is best to include the patient in this process while they are still fully cognizant or before the patient falls ill. It is important to discuss whether to prolong the patient’s life during terminal illness and where to deliver hospice service. An ideal time for patients to broach this subject with family members is during a private family meeting to talk over or update a living will. Patients and care providers also inform the primary care provider about these details.

Providing care for patients at the end of their life is integral for doctors, nurses and clinicians as carers and at a human level, as people. With an increasing ageing population, the provision of care for vulnerable groups of people is on the increase, and giving such care is increasingly demanding (RCN, 2012). Although, healthcare workers are assiduous and professional in providing care for patients, ethical dilemmas can still arise leading to inadequate care, with some issues being preventable with better pro-active teamwork and planning (Kreimer, 2010). This is an important topic to explore and will be examined in this assignment, by focusing on a scenario from the healthcare setting. Firstly, a summary of the case in question will be presented. Secondly, the ethical challenges in this case will be explored by analysing and evaluating the patient’s mental capacity, human rights and conflict between those involved in the care. Thirdly, the essay will draw on relevant health and social care policy, and will appraise the nurses’ roles and responsibilities and the decision-making that should be adhered to. The patient in the case study will be called Mrs Jones, a pseudonym that will be used throughout this assignment, in order to maintain confidentiality (NMC, 2015).

When a person is healthy, he or she should be able to manage any social, physical, or mental challenges that come his or her way. A healthy person therefore is seen as one who should be able to perform their daily assignments, having access to their social services like vocation efficiently without any form of complication (Gentry et al. 2010 p.103). In case where a person’s ability to carry out the functions mentioned above expected of a healthy person, the person could be deemed unhealthy and might require the services of a caregiver for him or her to be able to accomplish some of his or her daily activities.

When a person comes to the point of time at which they are at the end of their life, whether it is due to their age, natural causes or because an accident has happened, end-of-life care becomes a key component in their given situation. For most people, their families, whether it be their husband or their wife, their children, or even their parents, have to be the ones to make decisions about that care. This end-of-life care involves many decisions that most people do not want to make but have to, whether it is to prolong this person’s life or deciding to let them go peacefully and without any pain. In this paper, I will discuss one particular case, that of Terri Schiavo, and her end-of-life care.