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Aakash Article

End-of-life care focuses on providing comfort and reducing suffering for patients nearing death, while also addressing the needs of their families. Ethical challenges arise in decision-making regarding medical interventions, necessitating strong communication skills among healthcare providers, particularly nurses. The primary goal of palliative care is to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families, requiring professional support and effective collaboration among healthcare teams.

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20 views3 pages

Aakash Article

End-of-life care focuses on providing comfort and reducing suffering for patients nearing death, while also addressing the needs of their families. Ethical challenges arise in decision-making regarding medical interventions, necessitating strong communication skills among healthcare providers, particularly nurses. The primary goal of palliative care is to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families, requiring professional support and effective collaboration among healthcare teams.

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harpreet
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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END OF LIFE CARE:

Aakash Malik
B.Sc.3rd Semester
Jammu & Kashmir

Nursing is a profession highly influenced by the word “CARE.”

Modern medicine and its technological innovations have extended life expectancies and altered
the natural order of death. Medical interventions like artificial nourishment and respiratory
support can extend people's lives by providing secondary support, even though many
contemporary medicines and technology cannot cure chronic conditions.
Life inevitably ends in death. Many people endure needless hardship and suffering as their lives
come to an end. A variety of issues also affect the family, close friends, and unpaid carers of
patients. They are crucial in providing their loved ones with care at the end of their lives, both
before and after death.
Care provided in the final stages of life, when everyone concerned understands that death is
imminent, is referred to as end-of-life care. As far as possible, suffering should be avoided or
lessened for dying patients, while also honoring their wishes.

Nurses must comprehend the tenets of biomedical ethics to address the challenges they encounter
when providing end-of-life care. Decisions involving resuscitation, mechanical ventilation,
artificial nourishment and hydration, terminal sedation, withholding and withdrawing therapies,
euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide are the primary scenarios that present ethical
challenges for medical personnel. Healthcare providers handle these circumstances under the
guidance of five ethical standards.

Medical advancements have made it possible to prolong death by a considerable amount. Thus,
decisions on end-of-life care may need to be made by patients, as well as by their friends and
family. Even though discussing one's death might be uncomfortable, doing so can assist a
person's
loved ones in understanding the kind of care they would like to receive in the final stages of their
life. This covers conversations regarding the use of aggressive ongoing medical treatments
during the final stages of life or life support using a breathing machine. It is also possible to talk
about the preferred setting for care (such as at home or in a hospital).

The Five Goals of Palliative Care comprises social needs, psychological suffering, spiritual
anguish, early detection, thorough examination, and management of physical problems,
including pain and other uncomfortable symptoms. These interventions must be supported by
evidence whenever feasible.
The reduction of pain, enhancement of quality of life until death, and provision of comfort in
death are the objectives of care for patients who are terminally ill. However, reaching these
objectives is not always simple. End-of-life care presents several ethical challenges for doctors,
patients, and patients' families because they must decide on treatment options such as whether to
use medical technologies to prolong a person's life or to let the patient's natural death process
continue.
DECISION MAKING
It can be challenging for the doctor, patient, and family members to decide whether to use
procedures to extend the patient's life or provide comfort when the patient is nearing the end of
their life. These procedures, which include artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH), terminal
sedation, mechanical ventilation (MV), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO),
mechanical circulatory support (MCS), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), withholding and
withdrawing treatment, euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide (PAS), make decision-making
difficult.
Nonetheless, it must be stated that excellent communication skills must be taught to nurses.
Effective communication is crucial for nurses to learn about patients' pain perceptions and
reactions to the analgesics they are prescribed. To comprehend all the relevant facts about
history, particularly when it comes to managing pain and other medical issues, effective
communication is essential. Nurses can collaborate closely with the family to meet all their needs
by having effective communication. Thus, one of the main obstacles to successful pain
management and palliative care must be recognized as a lack of understanding of appropriate
assessment, standardized procedures in pain management, and good communication.
As a result, palliative care affects everyone. As a healthcare professional, it is essential to acquire
the information and abilities needed to provide patients with life-limiting conditions. Regardless
of a patient's prognosis or disease stage, the primary goal of palliative care is to relieve their pain
and suffering. Enhancing the lives of patients and their families is the goal.
End-of-life care necessitates the professional assistance of doctors and nurses. A vital part of
palliative care is played by nurses. The many facets of palliative care, such as its administration
and efficient patient and carer assessment, must be taught to nurses. The nurse must be able to
look past the patient's and family member's bad behavior to make observations and assessments
that could enable other medical professionals to offer the required support or care. Nurses must
acquire novel proficiencies to effectively address the obstacles that impede efficient pain
treatment. By purposeful training and cooperation with other healthcare professionals in a
hospital or hospice, ignorance can be overcome.

Inspired by my mother

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