| Resource Bank | | | Resource Bank on Palliative and End of Life Care Education EXCERPT from the report: Definition of Palliative Care Palliative care (CHPCA, 2002):- affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
- neither hastens nor postpones death;
- provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
- integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of care;
- offers a support system to help persons live as actively as possible until death; and
- offers a support system to help families cope during the person’s illness and in their own bereavement.
Palliative care is “the combination of active and compassionate therapies intended to comfort and support individuals and families who are living with, or dying from, a progressive life-threatening illness, or are bereaved” (CHPCA, 2002, p. 5). Palliative care guided by the principles of Primary Health Care is characterized by care that is: accessible, participatory, inter-professional, health promoting, and uses appropriate technology and skill (CNA, 2002). According to the World Health Organization (retrieved May 31, 2007 from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/), “palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the 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. Palliative care: …- uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling, if indicated;
- will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness;
- is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.”
Nurses’ Roles in Palliative Care Professional nursing practice is based on a philosophy that nursing is interpersonal and holistic in nature. This implies that the nurse uses the nurse-patient relationship as the foundation for care in order to address the patient and family’s physiological, emotional, psycho-social, spiritual, and practical needs. The achievement of an effective nurse-patient relationship, involves certain crucial attitudes and behaviours on the part of the nurse. These attitudes and behaviours allow the nurse to empathize with the patient and to be sensitive to the patient’s needs without becoming overly enmeshed in the patient’s situation.MORE... | | |
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