Palliative Care Nursing Practice and Its Application

316X Palliative Care: Assessment 1
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316X Palliative Care: Assessment 1
Introduction
I provide palliative care in an oncology setting with pain and symptomatology management responsibilities. I apply advanced communication to reinforce informed decision-making where my patients actively participate in goal setting and interventions suggested. The facility has a 50-patient oncology unit, emphasizing the upstream adoption of palliative care. I collaborate with a diverse team of specialists to share patient information. Optimum collaboration is critical to enhancing planning outcomes. Patients struggle to make adjustments in experiencing life-limiting illnesses; therefore, engaging them in discussions clarifying treatment goals improves the application of health preferences. I apply evidence-based approaches in the primary management of the physical characteristics of illnesses. I prioritize the patients' psychological well-being and provide compassionate care to navigate topics involving family, social, faith, and professional roles. The learning materials in the set include practical guidelines on diverse scenarios in clinical practice.
I learned about the nurse's role in advocacy for equity in resource distribution in palliative settings. The learnings highlight the value of specified pain management protocols for somatic, neuropathic, and visceral pain. Nurses should learn more about the products offered by pharmaceutical companies to understand their applications in pain management. The set guidelines improved my definition of dying well. Palliative care entails attending to the emotional and spiritual needs of patients. In addition, considerations are made to their family members (Becker & Wright, 2017). Palliative care enhances patient control and the facilitation of a peaceful environment. Therefore, for dying patients, nurses should provide respectful language to promote dignity in death (Karbasi et al., 2018). As a result, they can advocate for access to the appropriate medications, such as opioids, to alleviate pain. While patients diagnosed with cancer may present common symptoms such as depression and grief, nurses should identify unique manifestations of psychosocial responses.
Hospice and Palliative Care
Compare and Contrast Differences
One critical difference between palliative care and hospice care is when the care is applied. In palliative care, nurses address symptomology management and psychosocial support alongside treatment for a severe illness. Therefore, nurses engage the patients in discussions to determine ideal treatment settings, whether they prefer life-extending solutions, or if the focus should be on enhancing comfort. Palliative care may commence after diagnosis. However, in a hospice setting, care is provided at the end-of-life stage. At this stage, curative treatments are no longer viable, emphasizing comfort and improving the patient's quality of life. Therefore, hospice care is typically applied when a patient has about six months to live.
Distinguish and Explain Three Overlaps Between the Approaches to Care in Hospice and Palliative Care Models
There are several overl...