Palliative Care

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at palliative care, the union of medical, spiritual, and cultural considerations into a holistic, compassionate approach geared toward reducing the severity of symptoms. According to the paper, palliative care focuses on comfort and pain management rather than on curative measures and emphasizes care for terminal patients and their families. The paper reviews the video 'On Our Own Term: Moyer on Dying', part of a series called "A Different Kind of Care".

Outline:
On Our Own Terms
Hospice and Palliative Care
Spirituality, an Aspect of Palliative Care
Reflection

From the Paper:

"In most cases, death brings the terminally-ill patient toward spirituality; indeed, this is the essence of existence for the majority of people. Whether or not we have strayed from our religious backgrounds, most people when close to death seek to understand the big questions of life. As a nursing student from a Catholic university, I have studied a curriculum that encompasses many aspects of life, including spirituality. However, most student nurses at the developmental age of college students focus on careers and relationships which can distance them from spirituality, probably the most important issue for a terminally-ill patient. How can we, as nursing students, discuss spirituality with patients at the end of life when some of us are either too young for spiritual awareness or too old and cynical? More importantly, how can we use spirituality in our nursing practice if our training has concentrated on oxygenation, safety, nutrition, and other health issues?"

Sample of Sources Used:

• International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care. (2006). The IAHPC manual of palliative care. Retrieved October 12, 2006 from http://www.hospicecare.com/manual/ principles-main.html
• Kubler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying: What the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy, and their own families. New York: First Touchstone.
• Mitchell, D. L., Bennett, M. J., & Manfrin-Ledet, L. (2006). Spiritual development of nursing students: Developing competence to provide spiritual care to patients at the end of life. Journal of Nursing Education, 45, 365-372. Retrieved October 15, 2006 from ProQuest database.
• Moyer, E., Doctoroff- O'Neill, J., & Mannes, E. (2000).Own Our on Terms: Moyer on Dying. Public Broadcasting Services, New York
• World Health Organization. (2006). WHO definition of palliative care. Retrieved October 12, 2006 from http://www.who.int/cancer/pallitative/definition/en/print.html.

More papers on Palliative Care:

• Article Review # 144774 : "Article Review: "A Longitudinal Study of Palliative Care"
• Essay # 137904 : "Implementation of BPG for Dialysis/Palliative Care"
• Research Paper # 86768 : "Palliative Care in a Hospital Setting"

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