ANSWER
Providing End-of-Life Care to Elderly People Services for the Client
My main responsibility as a hospice nurse is to give compassionate, all-encompassing care that guarantees the client’s comfort and dignity in their last days. I am able to provide the following services:
Symptom management is the process of giving drugs to relieve discomfort caused by pain, nausea, dyspnea, and other unpleasant symptoms.
Emotional support includes lending a sympathetic ear, addressing death-related anxieties, and assisting the client in finding serenity.
Helping with everyday life tasks like bathing, shifting positions, and keeping oneself clean in order to avoid discomfort and problems like pressure ulcers is known as personal care assistance.
Depending on the client’s preferences and personal beliefs, spiritual care coordination involves matching them with spiritual counsellors or chaplaincy.
Advance Care Planning: Ensuring that the care plan is in line with the client’s values and goals and that their end-of-life care requests are honoured.
Services for the Family of the Client
In hospice care, supporting the family is just as important as taking care of the patient. I am able to offer the family the following services:
Education and Counselling: Educating family members on how to take care of the patient, handle prescription drugs, and spot symptoms of the dying process.
Emotional Support: Offering family members counselling to help them deal with the upcoming loss and process their emotions.
Resource Coordination: Making it easier for them to get access to community services, support groups, and respite care that can aid them both during and after the caring journey.
Bereavement Support: To assist family members in adjusting, ongoing grief counselling and check-ins are provided for a predetermined amount of time after the client’s passing.
Development of the Self as a New Hospice Nurse
This initial hospice experience offers a chance for significant personal and professional development:
Enhanced Empathy: Developing a rapport with the client will help me better comprehend the human condition and the significance of ensuring a dignified death.
Better abilities: I’ll have the ability to handle challenging conversations about death and complex symptoms, two essential abilities in hospice care.
Perspective on Life and Death: Observing the client’s final journey will help you understand the importance of a patient-centered approach, which will help you develop a greater respect for life and the ability to bounce back from loss.
Professional Satisfaction: I believe that helping the client and their family get through this private time will deepen my dedication to hospice care and its vital role in medicine.
In conclusion
As a hospice nurse, I have the chance to provide this client with meaningful, client-centered care at a time when they are most vulnerable. I want this transition to be as peaceful as possible by making sure the client is comfortable and treated with dignity and by providing the family with both practical and emotional support. Furthermore, this experience will greatly advance my development as a skilled and sympathetic hospice nurse.
Citations
Paice, J. A., Ferrell, B. R., and Coyle, N. (2019). Oxford Palliative Nursing Textbook, Fifth Edition. Oxford University Press.
Organisation for National Hospice and Palliative Care, n.d. services for hospice care. taken from the website https://www.nhpco.org
(n.d.) World Health Organisation. palliative care. taken from the website https://www.who.int
QUESTION
Chapter 30 – Caring for Older Adults at the End of Life
You have very recently begun working as a hospice nurse and your first client is an 86-year-old with a diagnosis of terminal cancer. The client after discussing with family has decided to forgo any further treatments, and has expressed wishes to pass away at home with family present. The physician shared with staff today that the client is entering into the final days of life and that staff need to prepare themselves for the inevitability of death. You are attempting to prepare for your first experience with death.
Instructions:
1. Answer the following questions:
a. As a hospice nurse what kinds of services can you offer the client?
b. What kinds of services can you offer the family of the client?
c. As a new hospice nurse what do you think you might gain from this relationship you are about to create with the client?
2. Your paper should be:
. One (1) page or more.
. Use factual information from the textbook and/or appropriate articles and websites.
. Cite your sources – type references according to the APA Style Guide