The Nursing clinics of North America
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There is a need for generalist- and specialist-level palliative care clinicians proficient in symptom management and care coordination. Major factors contributing to this need include changed disease processes and trajectories, improved medical techniques and diagnostic testing, successful screening for chronic conditions, and drugs that often prolong life. ⋯ Long years of survival are often accompanied by a reduced quality of life that requires more medical and nursing care and longer home care. This article reviews the management of selected symptoms in palliative and end of life care.
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Nurs. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2010
Personal relationships and communication messages at the end of life.
The diagnosis of advanced illness often brings with it an element of limited time. Being diagnosed with a life-limiting illness and facing death can evoke many painful emotions including anxiety, sadness, and uncertainty. ⋯ Embedded in this time are 2 elements of daily functioning: personal relationships and communication. Having conversations about the relationship and communicating love, gratitude, and/or forgiveness may have potential benefits for the dying person and those considered close and important.
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Nurs. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2010
Recruiting for end of life research: lessons learned in family research.
A main hurdle for end of life research is recruitment of patients. Researchers can enroll interested patients and their families for end of life studies by gaining the trust of the hospice staff, who can make valuable referrals of patients nearing the end of life. Participants in the study should be made as comfortable as possible and not be coerced into the interview process. Once the patients have confidence in the researchers, they are more than willing to be a part of the research process because it can prove to be cathartic to many of the patients and their family members.
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Nurs. Clin. North Am. · Sep 2010
Assessing respiratory distress when the patient cannot report dyspnea.
Ensuring patient comfort begins with a comprehensive assessment for symptom distress. The dying patient poses unique challenges for assessment because of the high prevalence of declining and impaired cognition that typifies this population. The focus of this paper is on the practical clinical question: How can we recognize respiratory distress when the patient cannot provide a report about dyspnea?