Questions and Answers
What is the purpose of palliative care?
Prevent and relieve suffering; improve quality of life for patients with serious life limiting illnesses.
What are some goals of palliative care?
Regard dying as a normal process; provide relief from symptoms; affirm life; support holistic patient care; offer support to live actively; support families during illness.
What is the purpose of hospice care?
To provide compassion, concern, and support for persons in the last phases of a terminal disease.
What are the main goals of hospice care?
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What are some major differences between hospice and palliative care?
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What are the goals for end of life care?
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What causes the death rattle?
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What characterizes Cheyne-Stokes respiration?
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Hearing is usually the last sense to disappear.
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Touch sensation increases as death approaches.
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What happens to taste and smell as disease progresses?
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What are some signs of visual changes near death?
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What are some cardiovascular changes at end of life?
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What changes occur in the respiratory system at end of life?
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What are the urinary system changes seen at the end of life?
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What gastrointestinal changes may occur at the end of life?
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What happens to the musculoskeletal system at end of life?
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What integumentary changes can be observed near death?
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What are psychosocial manifestations at end of life?
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What does bereavement refer to?
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What is grief?
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Study Notes
Palliative Care
- Aims to prevent and relieve suffering while improving the quality of life for patients with serious, life-limiting illnesses.
- Emphasizes treating dying as a natural process and provides symptom relief, especially pain management.
- Supports holistic care and enables patients to remain active as long as possible, assisting families during illness and bereavement.
Hospice Care
- Focuses on compassionate support for individuals in the final phases of a terminal disease.
- Aims to ensure patients live comfortably, die pain-free, and maintain dignity.
Differences Between Hospice and Palliative Care
- Palliative care can be provided alongside curative treatments, while hospice care is for those not seeking curative options.
- Palliative care focuses on the patient, while hospice care also emphasizes family support.
Goals for End of Life Care
- Provide comfort and supportive care throughout the dying process.
- Improve the remaining quality of life for patients.
- Ensure a dignified death experience.
- Offer emotional support to the patient’s family.
Symptoms and Changes Near Death
- Death Rattle: Caused by mouth breathing and mucus accumulation in airways.
- Cheyne-Stokes Respiration: Alternating periods of apnea and rapid breathing.
- Hearing: Typically the last sense to diminish.
- Touch: Decreased sensation; reduced pain and touch perception.
- Taste and Smell: Gradually diminish with disease progression.
- Sight: May include blurred vision, sinking or glazing of eyes, absent blink reflex, and half-open eyelids.
Changes in Body Systems Near Death
- Cardiovascular: Increased heart rate, pulse irregularity, decreased blood pressure, delayed drug absorption.
- Respiratory: Increased respiratory rate, irregular breathing, noisy congested breathing (death rattle).
- Urinary: Decrease in urine output, possible incontinence, inability to urinate.
- Gastrointestinal: Slowed GI function, gas accumulation, potential incontinence, bowel movement before death.
- Musculoskeletal: Loss of movement ability, sagging jaw, difficulty in speaking and swallowing, loss of gag reflex.
- Integumentary: Mottling of extremities, cold and clammy skin, potential cyanosis, waxlike skin near death.
Psychosocial Manifestations at End of Life
- Altered decision making and increased anxiety about unfinished business.
- Decreased socialization, fears of loneliness and pain, feelings of helplessness.
- Life review, experiences of peace, restlessness, saying goodbyes, and withdrawal.
Grief and Bereavement
- Bereavement: State of loss experienced following a loved one's death; mourning occurs during this period.
- Grief: Reaction to loss; a normal response to the death of a loved one and associated with the loss of potential future experiences.
Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief
- A framework for understanding the emotional responses to loss, encompassing denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
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Test your knowledge on the principles and goals of palliative care with these flashcards. Explore the purpose of palliative care, its focus on relieving suffering, and the support it provides for patients with serious illnesses.