What Principles Does Palliative Care Advocate Nursing Essay

What Principles Does Palliative Care Advocate Nursing Essay

Ms. Mary Camilleri, a 65 year old lady, is eligible for palliative care due to her locally advanced pancreatic cancer, which has metastasised to the liver.

Palliative care is provided to improve the quality of life of the patient and her family, who are facing a life-threatening illness, and will be provided throughout Ms. Camilleri’s experience with the cancer.

The care begins at diagnosis and continues till the end of life of the individual. Palliative care involves prevention and relief of pain and suffering by means of early assessment, identification, and treatment of pain and any other physical, spiritual, and psychological problems.

The goal of this care is not to cure, but to support the patient and her family, her husband and three sons, in a holistic aspect through these difficult times, and ease Ms. Camilleri’s transition to end-of-life care (“Palliative Care in Cancer”, 2010).

In palliative care, a multi-professional approach should be taken, including Ms. Mary Camilleri and her family throughout the whole process of care. Together, an effective care plan is made which includes provision of pain relief and alleviation from any other disturbing symptoms.

The multi-disciplinary team will help the patient and her family accept her poor prognosis, regard dying as a normal process, and assure them that palliative care will not hasten nor postpone death.

In palliative care, the family is also taken care of, and support systems are offered to help Ms. Camilleri and her family cope during her end-of-life care (“Palliative Care”, 2004).

Nurses in particular, are of a huge importance in the interdisciplinary team, since they are continuously in close contact with the patient. Thus, the nurses are the ones which will coordinate the contributions of other health care professionals and services needed (Taylor-East, 2001).

They are also responsible for educating the patient and her relatives about the illness, and help with treatment decision making and end-of-life closure. The only way for all of this to succe…………

The benefit of palliative care for patients with cancer is significant. Symptoms like; shortness of breath, pain, vomiting, constipation, and nausea, may be related to cancer and each of them has a negative effect on the quality of life of the patient. The palliative care teams are trained specifically to deal with these problems and any other distressing symptoms. Certain treatments which are used to treat cancer can be also considered palliative. Doctors can recommend radiation and/or chemotherapy not for cancer cure, but for increase in comfort and decrease in disease symptoms of the patient (Morrow, 2010).

How would you assess and manage her current uncontrolled symptoms?

Brescia (2004), states that “Pancreatic cancer is a formidable health problem, representing the 10th most common malignancy in the United States and the 4th most common cause of all cancer deaths” (p. 39). There is an overall 4% five-year survival rate for all stages and races despite of all the advances in technology and understanding of the biology and pathology of the disease (Brescia, 2004). To provide the best end-of-life care, the interdis………………………..