Hospice Professionals

C. Van, Erwin J. O. Kompanje, Dominique D. Benoit, Jan Bakker, and Marjan D. Nijkamp. " The Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout among Healthcare Professionals in Intensive Care Units: A Systematic Review." Plos One 10.8 (2015): n. pag. Web.

Volunteers played a large part in Pierre’s care, even staying with him overnight toward the end. How can the hospice’s management adequately supervise volunteer workers in such situations and ensure

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.

The hospice nurse play role as case managers and advocates for patients. Their task is to monitor the

The research question put forth by the authors asked if training palliative care nurses how to provide psychological treatment to hospice patients would be an effective intervention. Moreover, if these training programs are deemed effective, how were they successful (Galfin et al., 2011, p. 119)? The study put forth two hypotheses. The first consisted of a “brief work-shop based training programme in guided self-help would improve the impact of routine clinical care on psychological distress within a palliative care team’s caseload” compared to the untrained team. Secondly, the nurses who attended

The purpose of hospice is to provide the best quality life and end of life care for individuals with a chronic illness. Engaging in hospice social work is both a rewarding and challenging (Quinn-Lee, Olson-McBride, & Unterberger, 2014). Individuals often choose to become hospice social workers for a variety of reasons including a sense of purpose and commitment based on personal experiences with death and grief; disenchantment towards dying in a hospital setting and a desire to focus on the quality of life versus the quantity of life (Quinn-Lee, Olson-McBride, & Unterberger, 2014). Rewards associated with hospice work include working with an interdisciplinary setting, the opportunity to implement hospice philosophies, and the opportunity to share transcendent experiences with clients and their families (Quinn-Lee, Olson-McBride, & Unterberger, 2014).

When a person is diagnosed with a terminally illness and is given an expectancy of six months or less to live, it is time to concentrate on the type of care will need. Many times a person and their family will turn to hospice care. The meaning of hospice is to provide care to a person who is terminally ill. Hospice does not speed up or postpone death. Hospice is a type of care that provides services to improve the quality of life for the patient and family.

What happens when the caregiver can’t care anymore? When the profession you have chosen leaves you with feelings of dread and anxiety at the thought of going to work, when you feel what you do is no longer rewarding? Compassion fatigue has been called the “cost of caring” by Dr. Figley one of founders of the theories of compassion fatigue. The field of caregiving requires an offering of an open heart and mind to patients and families, although it is the same process that leaves caregivers vulnerable to the effects of damage from their work. Fortunately, we have learned methods to recognize, prevent and treat compassion fatigue, giving caregivers a way to stay healthy and continue to offer the patients the empathetic care they deserve.

You have made excellent points. I do not believe that health care professionals neglect to treat patients in palliative care in the correct settings. The care one receives is based on what type of locations they are in. Hospitals and hospice centers often have employees with higher education levels and an increased passion for their job. I believe that health care providers want to ensure that one is comfortable at the end of life. I have visited Alive Hospice here in Nashville and was able to see the the great amount of care they provided to their patients. I have attached a link to their website below. I am curious to know your opinion on why you think one would not receive adequate care at the end-of-life phase.

When a patient is given a short amount of time expectant to live, they are referred to hospice. Hospice services provide the best possible quality of life. Hospice services include physician services, skilled nursing visits, on call, and around the clock during crisis periods, medical social workers, certified nurse’s aide, home health aide/ homemaker, trained volunteers, medication, equipment, and medical supply, short term inpatient care, bereavement counseling, and pastoral care.

Nurses are a respected part of our community. They’re trained and educated to help heal, teach, and offer supportive care. Nurses can specialize in different areas, one would be the hospice field. Hospice patients typically have six months or less to live. Hospice will normally be provided in the patient’s home; however, the patient may also receive hospice care in the hospital, nursing care facility, or a family member’s home (“Home Health Care And Hospice Nursing”). According to Lauren Douglas, RN, while providing care in the home, the nurse must come prepared, and be expected to professionally and efficiently give outstanding care (Douglas). Hospice nurses often provide, teach, and monitor wound care, provide blood draws, as well as administer, and organize medications. Some hospice nurses will provide chemo-therapy and

Illness, disease, and trauma constantly and continuously affect people all over the world. Everyday, people are placed in hospitals, diagnosed with cancer, injured in war, devastated by a natural disaster, involved in a car wreck, and lose loved ones. People in these circumstances require help. They have to have someone caring for them in this difficult and stressful time in their lives. Those who are involved in patient care include doctors, nurses, therapists, rescue workers, and family members. Providing care for people is by no means an easy job. It requires mental and physical strength, intelligence, compassion, empathy, and organizational and time management skills. These are necessary qualities for caregivers to have in order to cope with caring for people who are suffering. Caregivers are confronted with anguish, negativity, depression, and defiance on a daily basis. This places copious amounts of physical and emotional stress on them, and caregivers also have the added stress of their personal life and family (Portnoy 2011). Those who are involved in patient care suffer as much as the patients do. The “cost of caring” is that these caregivers end up experiencing burnout. In medical terms, burnout is defined as the “emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from a combination of exposure to environmental and internal stressors and inadequate coping and adaptive skills” (Burnout). Along with exhaustion, “the person with burnout exhibits an increasingly

It was recognised by Jevon (2009) that caring for the dying patient can be the most fulfilling whilst also most challenging times for nurses and healthcare professionals. This paper will introduce a case study based on personal experience within clinical placement, exploring and analysing the above statement. In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Guidelines (2008) names have been changed to protect patient confidentiality. The paper will seek to address issues relating to the case study examining relevant theory. Current policies and guidelines will be considered in relation to the patient. It will identify a framework involved looking at literature to assess the effectiveness against the case study. Finally, focusing on a

Nurses are prone to deal with death, whether they would prefer it or not. Although, there is an increase of medical advances to slow the progression of death, it is inevitable that patients will die. When a patient dies, nurses must deal with the grief and emotions that encompasses death. Due to the nature of how often nurses deal with death, it leads to an increase awareness of how they will someday face their own death. The increase in emotions and grief leads to an overwhelming increase in stress for nurses. Continuous increase in stress can lead to burn out in nurses. Therefore, nurses must learn effective coping methods of death to reduce any devastating emotions and maintain professionalism.

The aim of this assignment is to explore the experiences of nurses caring for terminally-ill patients with HIV and how these experiences influence the nature of care rendered. The HIV virulent disease has been attributed to causing nurses to feel overwhelmed by the elevated number of terminally-ill patients they care for who, because of the nature of their compromised illness, require more dedicated care than other patients. The achievement of caring was experienced by nurses as convert the patients quality of life through supportive care and hope for life. Palliative care made the nurses conscious of their own mortality, enabling them to be more sensitive, compassionate and dedicated to concern for their patients.