What is your opinion of palliative and hospice care after looking at this patient? Pro’s and Con’s.
This is a case study about the evolution of Palliative and Hospice Care. Please review the
book and then read the following 2 articles before you address the case study. Additionally,
you may research the issue yourself to bring in extra information.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/723058 I have put this article on moodle-you can access it
for free with medscape account, but I wanted you to have it if you do not.
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000536.htm
Please post to the following questions by Sunday night (April 12) @ 2359. Respond to 2 fellow
students by Wednesday night (April 15) @ 2359. This is a good topic to discuss and to ponder what
you think about the subject, so I hope there will be some good discussion. There are really no
absolute “right” answers in this kind of topic!
An 85-year-old man with New York Heart Association class IV heart failure, hypertension, and
moderate Alzheimer's disease, who lives at home with his 84-year-old wife, arrives at his primary
doctor’s office with complaints of worsening heart failure symptoms, including breathlessness,
extreme fatigue, poor appetite, and continence problems. His wife is feeling overwhelmed with his
declining health and worries when he is not able to catch his breath and will no longer eat the food
she fixes for him.
The physician suggests palliative care. The patient and his wife inquires about what does this
mean. How should the nurse explain what palliative care means and why it is used?
After receiving palliative care for a year, with improvement in some of his symptoms, but worsening
dementia, he gets up one night to use the bathroom and falls. He is admitted to the hospital with a
hip fracture and has an open reduction and internal fixation. His postoperative course is complicated
by pneumonia, delirium, pressure ulcers on his heels and sacrum, and weight loss. His wife is
concerned about the ability to care for him and the doctor has told her that his dementia and heart
failure have steadily progressed.
Is hospice care indicated for this patient? Why or why not? What would you tell the wife and patient
at this time?
What is your opinion of palliative and hospice care after looking at this patient? Pro’s and Con’s.
Would you want this for your loved one or yourself?
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