Sheelar Moo
09/24/16
Palliative care
Today there are now many cases of patients living with “terminal” illnesses, those illnesses that cannot be cured and will eventually kill the patient, but can be managed with medicine. These patients require a special type of care called palliative care, which is defined by CRETO is “a type of care focused on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis (sarah piper).Palliative care is provided by a team of specialists and care providers, and is aimed at controlling suffering, improving the patient’s quality of life, increasing function and assisting with decision-making.
This care is provided by a team of doctors and nurses who are responsible for the well being of their patient. Typically, the most focus is given to the pain level of the patient and the management of the disease because this is seen as the best way to relieve the patient’s suffering.
Example is that when a patient is so sick, cancer patient especially, palliative care that allows the patient to remain at home and avoids admission to the hospital which will also reduce medical costs thereby improving their discomfort and hence their quality of lives.
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The purpose of palliative care is to help reduce suffering, improve the patient quality of life and help the patient and family in decision making. Palliative care team addresses not only the physical pain of a chronic illness, but also the non physical symptoms like emotional stress, financial concerns. It allows the patient to live as comfortable as they can and live as lively as possible. The doctors and nurses work very closely with the patients and the family so it provides the patients with an extra
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.
Very often, deliberate decisions are made which results in the end of a life. For example, a person could be kept on life support, but instead, a family member or other significant person might choose to switch off the life support machine resulting in the official death of a patient. There is also the case that resuscitation of a patient may eventually prove to be trivial and a doctor might suggest just making the patient as comfortable as possible until their eventual passing. In the above situations, a medical professional’s decisions would not be questioned or doubted. It is conventional practice (Warnock and MacDonald 2008).
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.
Palliative care, somewhat similar to Hospice care, focuses on relieving or preventing suffering from a life altering illness. The goal for both Palliative and Hospice care is to provide the best possible quality of life to
Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.Palliative care is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses, social workers and other specialists who work together with a patient’s doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.
A solution to why end of life care planning should be cover as an expense will be provided by case law, an ethical theory and moral principles. The stakeholders that are affected by end-of-life planning are patients, family members of patients, physicians, nurses and insurance companies. Ultimately patients are affected the most if end-of-life planning is not covered. End-of-life planning can be expensive in which can affect the decision that the patient makes. If this expense is covered, it may help the patient’s decision a little bit easier.
Palliative care is a service provided by trained medical professionals to provide comfort to the patient that is suffering from a serious illness. Many people do not have a clear understanding of what palliative care is and how it provides relief for the patient, as well as the patient’s family. There is a definite need for education on this topic as well as many other topics concerning patient education and safety. The Joint Commission (2016) launched a Speak Up™ campaign in 2002 and one of the main topics the campaign focuses on is palliative care. The brochure offered is titled What You Need to Know About Your Serious Illness and Palliative Care (The Joint Commission, 2016) and is available for the public to download or print at no cost. The brochure provides useful information on what services are provided and where you can receive those services. It includes other information that is not only beneficial to a patient, but a patient’s family member, or anybody who knows someone that may benefit from palliative care.
The purpose of hospice is to effectively provide palliative care to terminally ill patients and their families, it is available to any age, religion or race. According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, “hospice provides expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient’s needs and wishes Support is provided to the patient’s loved ones as well” (NHPCO, 2015). In
Palliative care is a relatively new concept. Palliative care programs have become more numerous and better utilized since 2000 and continue to grow. It is now accepted that the palliative care model is appropriate for patients with life-limiting illnesses. Chan et al. (2013) stated that the ultimate goal of palliative care is to relieve suffering and to maximize the quality of life for dying patients and their families, regardless of the stage of illness or the need for other medical treatments (p. 133). As life-expectancy increases, there is a growing need for these services. People are living longer with chronic diseases and palliative care services can provide an extra layer of support to patients and their families. Evidence has shown that 13% - 36% of hospital inpatients qualify for palliative care services (Robinson, Gott, & Ingleton, 2014).
When it said palliative care it refers not only to the care and management of patients approaching the end of life but also addresses the reduction of suffering throughout the stage of illness and, for family specially to aboriginal people. Palliative and end-of-life care, although traditionally associated with cancer care, intersects with a number of other clinical disciplines, such as cardiology, respiratory medicine, critical care, nephrology, pediatrics and neurology. In aboriginal population regenerates to grow and modern medicine provides the means to prolong the life of individuals with a variety of life-limiting diseases and conditions.
There is no doubt that the medical field has gone through numerous changes due to the advancement in technology. In reference to Spekowius and Thomas, technological development has been the primary driving force towards the improvement in medical care that has seen numerous lives saved. Nonetheless, despite the advancements, chronic diseases such as cancer remain without a cure. Palliative care remains the only process that can keep individuals alive and comfortable for as long as it is medically possible. However, there has been debate over the effectiveness of palliative care in reference to care offered to chronic disease patients. Euthanasia has been an option in such discussions. The view of assisted suicide as a medical solution for
Many terminally-ill patients give up hope when treatments are no longer available to help them and hospice care is given to them as an option. However, hospice care has proven itself to provide the best quality care for the last six months of the dying. The purpose of hospice is to provide the best care for terminally-ill patients at the end stage of their lives. Hospice offer services to support too many aspects a patient’s life such as medical, legal, spiritual care. Hospice includes art therapists, music therapists, and certified chaplains on the palliative team.
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
Key importance of the palliative care approach in nursing is for it to be responsive, rather than
There is a need for evidence on palliative care because improving strategies could potentially improve the patients end of life care and could ensure that they die in a dignified