Death, facing it can paralyze people with so much fear, anxiety, and/or regret that they lose sight of the life still left ahead of them. Death is something that everyone has to face, and sometimes we forget to look at the needs of others, or even our own needs, when death is near. Introduction to Health Communication showed me the amazing work that San Diego Hospice does for people, and has given me a new path to follow in life so I can one day work in a hospice to bring peace to those that may feel that they are at their lowest. Working at a hospice will have its own challenges that I am willing to face because compassion and caring is what we need more of in the world today. I will first explain how uncertainty affects patients at a hospice, then I will examine the problems the caregivers and the patients …show more content…
One hardship that people face while coming towards the end of their life is uncertainty. Uncertainty comes in many aspects, and each aspect can bring up different types of problems for the patient and their family. Head and Cohen (2015) explain that there are "five sources of uncertainty: complexity of the illness, quality of information, probability of the illness, structure of information, and lay epistemology" (p. 184). Complexity of the illness will bring about uncertainty because people can feel overwhelmed with the unknown. The more complex an illness is the more information is needed about how the illness works, what the illness does, and possible treatments for the illness and their side effects. Hospices will try to ease their patients' uncertainty by offering information to the patient and their family. The information can be overwhelming and can lead to uncertainty due to the quality of information that the
Death is a natural process that will be experienced by everyone at some point, desirably at the end of a long, well lived life. The reality is that no one knows when that time will come or how it will happen. Unfortunately, for the terminally ill, death is in the near future and it is a sobering reality. Therefore, when that time comes, people need to know that they will have options, and the assurance that death does not have to be an agonizing end. They can choose to endure the annihilating pain that comes with the disease and allow it to take its natural course or choose to put an end to it, surrounded by those who love them.
I spoke with the patient 's wife via phone, The wife states that she needs additional assistance for the patient. She states that she is aware that the patient 's health is declining and that she wants him to be comfortable at home. I discussed hospice services with the patient and the wife. The wife states that she would like hospice to evaluate the patient, the patient also agree for hospice to evaluate. Case reviewed with the patient 's nurse, the charge nurse, case management and hospice.
These stages include denial, anger, bargaining, and eventually acceptance. Denial is the first stage of nearing death. The patient and/or their family does not want to accept the situation they’re in. The second stage, anger, is when the patient and/or family is frustrated with whatever is going on and tries to change it or make negotiations, and that leads into the third stage, bargaining. Last but not least comes acceptance.
Kindred Hospice believes that “death is as unique as the individual who is experiencing it.” (Karnes, 2009) As such, the goal of Kindred’s clinically-directed interdisciplinary team is
What is Hospice? What do we as people think of when we mention the word, Hospice? “Bereavement” in other words that is not always a true statement. I now been with Hospice going on three years; June 17 2016. I have taken care of most of the patients I have had since day one as yes’ there are long term patients not short term.
I felt fortunate to have attended the session with Bonnie, an epitome for an ideal hospice care provider. She demonstrates an ability to connect anyone in personal level and with full attention; thereby, making both the recipients and their family feel cared. As she shared her experience, it was reflected that she made sure the care is provided to the patients spiritually; and other needs are also taken care of. Bonnie joined hospice care after realizing the previous career of a social worker was not fulfilling. It was inspiring that she reflected it is never too late to change a career trajectory.
Hospice Isn’t Just for the Sick HospiceDirectory goes on to promote hospice’s commitment to improving overall quality of life, not only for terminally ill patients, but for everyone who surrounds them. Every quality hospice care facility knows that the involvement of friends and family members is an absolutely essential component of effective treatment and care. That’s why, in addition to looking after terminally ill patients directly, hospice serves caregivers http://auburncrest.com/services/what-is-hospice/ by training them in basic support functions and educating them about the intricacies of terminal care. Friends and family members can also access counseling to prepare them for the many losses they will face as illness progresses and bereavement care to help them cope with postmortem grief.
Advance directives help inform health care providers with the patient’s wishes on how they would like to be treated medically. Advance directives allow a patient to be in control of their treatment plan as well as end of life choices. Therefore, when the time comes, and the patient is no longer able to make these decisions, there is a legal document that has been put in place to carry out the patient’s wishes. Advance directives are critical documents that are often ignored because of the uncomfortableness the subject of end of life care brings up. Advance directives are most common in the geriatric population since people often associate advance directives primarily with end of life decisions.
We now have good home and hospital palliative care programs, effectively able to eliminate or greatly reduce pain and suffering. Making good use of those medical skills is the hospice program, now helping more than a million persons each year receive sensitive care in dying. Although Callahan presents a good case in detailing these alternatives, he is wrong in the assumption that pain and suffering should be endured by providing terminally ill patients with medication to ease the pain. A person can be in so much pain but may not seek medication which is a short term alternation.
A hospice provides a more suitable environment for those at the final stages of their lives compared to a hospital for a multitude of reasons. Hospice care is designed to care for all aspects of the person life; they provide physical, mental, and religious services, as well as caring for the patient’s family. Since hospice care is also available at home, the patient has the opportunity to die in familiar surroundings. On the contrary, hospital care provides primarily physical services to the patient and is focused on the patient’s disease. Also, dying in a hospital can be less pleasant because a connotation of hospitals is illness which is a negative quality compared to that of a home, where a person is surrounded by their memories and belongings.
Approaching end of life is not only a challenging time for the individual, but also for the family. There are many decisions that must be made in order for the individual to receive the proper care in the process. One must think about choosing hospice care, palliative care or other end of live services. Also, one must make sure that their finances are in order, does one have special arrangements for the funeral or how about setting up a living will? A great number of individuals who enter end of life care have a majority of it figured out; some leave it until the last minute.
Healthcare in the United States is going through the very difficult challenge of trying to deliver on great care all while mitigating cost. To this very day hospitals are still trying to find ways to cut cost and save on medicare spending, and are always constantly seeking ways to reduce those cost and improve overall care. With the highest cost being associated to medicare spending in the millions in the last stages of a persons life, hospitals are now focusing on end of life services. Hospice care is one of these services that manages patients medically and keeps them out of the acute settings, such as the hospital.
1 Outline the factors that can affect an individual’s views on death and dying •Social •Cultural •Religious •Spiritual 2 Outline the factors that can affect own views on death and dying •Emotional •Past experience •Psychological •Religious •Social •Spiritual 3 Outline how the factors relating to views on death and dying can impact on practice Current and previous professional roles and responsibilities and past; boundaries limited by legal and ethical issues; professional codes of practice - internal and national; impact of management and leadership; input from other team members and workers. 4 Define how attitudes of others may influence an individual’s choices around death and dying different models of nursing care; person-centred
In all my experiences as a nurse, I’ve realized the importance of communication, providing holistic care to an individual and empowering them with the knowledge to manage their health. When an illness strikes a person, it affects not just his body, but also his mind and spirit. The art of communication is invaluable to patient interaction and establishing a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship, that facilitate coping mechanisms for patients, moreover it prepared myself as a nurse to meet their individual needs. Furthermore, there is at the moment an insurmountable demand for survivorship care as a result of the advancement in technology and medicine, which made living beyond life expectancy possible for increasingly more people. Living after cancer treatment is not free of complications as there are acute and chronic side effects of treatment that requires constant monitoring and attention, and this information spurred me to shift my focus from palliative to survivorship care.
This assignment also covers the importance of hope for patients and the role hope plays in terminally ill patients. I will also discuss ways in which health professionals can foster hope in terminally ill patients. I was on my placement on an oncology ward. It was my second week on