Purpose of Hospice

PURPOSE OF HOSPICE
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(June 05, 2012)
Purpose of Hospice
For the purposes of ensuring care towards dying patients, it is extremely vital for professionals of health care to diagnose dying. On the contrary, diagnosing dying is usually a very complicated procedure. Within a hospital setting characterized by a culture which is focused on “cure”, the continuation of invasive processes and procedures alongside treatments and investigations may be pursued in place of patient’s comfort. Sometimes, there exists reluctance when it comes to making a diagnosis of dying in case there is no hope for improvement for the patient. In case of uncertain chances of recovery, it is normally good to discuss it instead of offering false hopes on the patient and family. This normally ensures an increase in doctor-patient relationship which in turn aids to enhance trust (Bryant, 2003).
In the real sense, various health care professionals provide physical care to these terminal patients. As these patients become weak, they find it hard to use oral drugs. Thus, at this stage health care professionals normally ensure that these patients do not take non-essential drugs. Also, those drugs that ought to be continued like anxiolytics, antiemetics and opioids are normally converted to the subcutaneous pathway and a syringe driver utilized to have a continuous infusion. These health care professionals also ensure that terminal patients are not subjected to “cardiopulmonary resuscitation”. This is because it contains inappropriate and futile medical treatment. These professionals ensure that regular checks and observations are made. They also ensure that perfect symptom control is maintained plus pain and agitation control. The doctors ensure attention to mouth care towards these patients. In a case where urinary inconsistence and retention proves a problem, catheterization is normally done by these professionals.
Various health care professionals also provide psychological care upon these patients. They assess the insight of the patients into their conditions. In addition, the professionals explore various issues relating to dying patients both sensitively and appropriately. Furthermore, professionals of health care provide social care to these terminal patients. These professionals assess the family insight towards the condition of the patient. They also assess various issues relating to such patients in a sensitive and appropriate way. They inform the families of these patients about the clinical expectation that in the actual sense, their patients are in critical condition and will ultimately die (Bryant, 2003).
Advantages of Hospice
There exist various advantages of hospice. These include interdisciplinary and comprehensive care from a c...