Individual's approach to this difficult stage of life may be very different from considering it as the beginning of a new life through fear up to denying. Disregarding person's attitude towards what is happening to them they need help in many ways. From mine, care assistant's point of view the most important aspects of end of life care are: psychological and spiritual support (if requested), basic personal hygiene, supporting with eating and drinking and meeting continence needs. Another one which does not belong to my duties is administering proper medication which is basically pain reliefs. I work in a care home on two nursing units where very often I have to take care about terminally ill patients.
(Szpiro 2008) The review utilized Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains as a framework. Outcome measures included those from cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning domains. The objective of the study was to review the current methods of teaching in the emergency room and the deterrents to education such as patient anxiety, pain and limited time, along with the outcomes and the effectiveness of teaching interventions utilized. Educational methods included discussion, written materials, videos, and at times cartoons (for illiterate or non-English speaking patients) related to the patient’s individual health concerns. In some cases multiple teaching methods was required.
Henry is not so convinced and as the procedure looms closer he asks his nurse to help him make a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the procedure. The conclusion will involve how the nurse negotiates with Henry and what outcomes will be possible for Henry and his daughter. It is the responsibility of the nurse and multi-disciplinary teams to identify and protect vulnerable patients. Defining what is vulnerable is very difficult; The Department of Health (DOH ) describe a vulnerable adult as “a person aged 18 years and over, who is in receipt of or may be
However, this comes with the immense baggage accompanying tough decisions in clinical settings. If someone suffering from a severe coma is admitted into a hospital, is it the doctor’s responsibility to decide whether or not the patient deserves to live? What if the costs to sustain them aren’t proportional to the chance that they may make it through their condition? The issue regarding care of vegetative patients paints a gray area between right and wrong action; doctors alone must grapple with the ethical dilemmas surrounding patients with debilitating conditions. Kjell Asplund and Mona Britton, authors of Ethics of life support in patients with severe stroke, argue that there is a specific protocol that should be followed in order to deal with the multitude of ethical complications coma patients introduce.
Life and Death Issues in Healthcare A Review of the Case Study HS101 Abstract There are many issues raised by life and death choices in healthcare. Advance directives are a set of directions you give about the healthcare you want if you ever lose the ability to make decisions for yourself. If you have a disease you can choose curative care which is directed at healing or curing the disease or palliative care which involves care that helps relieve the symptoms, but does not cure or treat then disease. When it becomes apparent that a patient is approaching the end of life, or that the patient no longer wants to prolong their life, a decision can be be made to withhold or withdraw treatment. Advance directive laws merely give doctors and others immunity if they follow it, the only reliable strategy is to discuss your values and wishes with your healthcare providers ahead of time to make sure they are clear about what you want.
This paper will explore factors that contribute to medication errors and their effects on mental health nurses. In addition this paper will offer some future recommendation in order to decrease medication errors. Medication errors Medication administration is an essential aspect of nursing, however, failure to consider the details of adverse reactions, drug interactions or administration schedules may compromise the efficiency of the therapeutic medication regime (Jordan, Jones, & Sargent, 2009). According to Haw, Stubbs & Dickens (2007) and Ramanujan &
The purpose of this paper is to discuss that as a patient’s life deteriorates care is no longer able to improve a patient’s quality of life but their projected outcome is thought to be a continued degeneration. It is further considered to be in the best interest of the patient and their family to terminate active care. Also, ethical issues need to be addressed concerning what is right for the patient and how making decisions on withdrawing care affects nursing. As stated in Hickey and Montgomery (2009) “with the continued growth of technology, it is difficult to determine if the patient ‘truly benefits’ from such advances”. “Truly benefits” will be used to mean the patient will, in time, have an improved quality of life (Hickey and Montgomery, 2009).
The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a psychological model that is use in nursing to explain and predict health behaviors of patients diagnosed with chronic disease like MI. In educating the patient using this model, the nurse will focus on the attitudes and beliefs of the patient. The nurse will encourage the patient by educating to recognize and promptly response to signs and symptoms of any complication from the MI. In-depth education opportunities will be planned and evaluated. The overall goal is for the client to return to pre-hospital living condition in an improved state of wellness.
Malnutrition eventually affects other systems of the body. It can lead to things such as diarrhea, anemia, fatigue, disorientation, anxiety, irritability, tremors, amenorrhea, decreased immune system, and even slowed growth. Discussion Patients with malnutrition need education and possibly the intervention of a social worker. It is important for a nurse to be able to identify such a patient and to begin talking to them about their life style. As a nurse we need to ensure that patient’s nutritional needs are met and that they understand how to provide adequate nutrition to themselves and family.
Where to find palliative care services Palliative care can be given at home, in a hospital or at a hospice. A hospice is where specially trained staff care for terminally ill people in a place more like a home than a hospital. As far as possible, the person and their family and friends choose where the care is given. Some patients receive all their palliative care in a hospice or in hospital (in a hospice ward or unit). Other patients are only admitted to a hospital or hospice for a brief stay.