Agape Hospice Rotation

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Agape hospice rotation

Hospice care is crucial for the people who are in the last stage of terminal illness, and it focuses on enhancing the quality of life. Hospice programs are home-based generally, but sometimes services are also provided away from home. The patients who are diagnosed with fatal illness and demand quality care for comforting themselves are qualifiers of hospice care. These patients demand compassionate care rather than prolonged lives. The focus of hospice care is on promoting dignity and reducing discomfort at the end of life CITATION Deb15 \l 1033 (Stoewen, 2015). Hospice will be an integral part for patient care who are suffering from advanced illness. It will focus on maximizing the quality of life patients life who are undergoing chronic pain by adopting pain management strategies. The goal is to provide relief by minimizing the intensity of pain. The program will focus on choosing between the pharmacological and treatments for care management. Specific goals will be established to implement effective treatment plans. The goals of the program cover the physical, mental and spiritual aspects CITATION Sis09 \l 1033 (Roy, 2009).

The minimum criteria for the staffing of nurses is graduation, apart from that the experience and professional skills will be considered. A nurse should earn a degree in nursing. A nurse needs hospice and palliative care exams for certification after two years of experience in hospice settings. The diseases that are prevalent among hospice patient population include cancer, heart diseases, lung diseases, and dementia. The prevalence of cancer is around 40% among hospice population in America. The prevalence of dementia is 14.8%, heart disease is 14.7% and lung disease is 9.3%. The pre-servicing and in-servicing training stresses improving the competency of nurses and social workers. The nursing staff is provided with training about treating patients with care. The role of nurse is to give sufficient care by utilizing different models of care. The training provides guidance on emotional channels that involve information assessment, learning, judgments, and emotion. Nurses assess the behavioral factors that affect adaptive ability and takes steps for encouraging adaptability among patients CITATION Sis09 \l 1033 (Roy, 2009).

I encountered with a cancer patient in hospice settings. My role as a nurse was to take care of the patient and provide medications according to physician's instructions. I had to provide palliative care to the dying patient, so I used Acetaminophen for controlling fever and pain. Antidepressants were also administered for assisting a patient in overcoming social anxiety disorder. Selective serotonin inhibitors had an effective role in lessening anxiety. Another patient that I encountered in hospice care was suffering from Parkinson's disease. When the pain was more severe and the patient wanted to relax I gave him Anticholinergic. The medication helped the patient to overcome his breathing problem, removed movement disorders and improved blurred vision CITATION Deb15 \l 1033 (Stoewen, 2015).

The most interesting part of my experience was to provide them comfort. Compassion and positive attitude helped me to establish an effective relationship with the patients. As patients in hospice care are going through severe pain the most challenging part was to cope with their moods. Most of the time patients despised me when I had to give medicine. At that time patients were restless so I had to be calm. I learned from the rotation that patients in hospice settings need care and compassion. The nurse must be able to understand their needs by assessing their verbal and non-verbal complaints. I learned that in hospice care nurses must be empathic with the patients because it promotes dignity and self-respect.

References

Stoewen, D. L. (2015). Health and wellness . Can Vet Journal, 56 (9), 983–984.

Roy, S. C. (2009). Nursing Theories: A Framework for Professional Practices . Nursing Outlook, 18, 42- 45.