Gourt > Health > Nursing > Specialties > Palliative Care (1)
Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of the symptoms of a disease or slows its progress rather than providing a cure. It aims at improving quality of life, by reducing or eliminating pain and other physical symptoms, enabling the patient to ease or resolve psychological and spiritual problems, and supporting the partner and family.
The concept of palliative care
The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a 1990 report on the topic, defined palliative care as "the active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment". This definition stresses the terminal nature of the disease. However, the term can also be used more generally to refer to anything that alleviates symptoms, even if there is also hope of a cure by other means; thus, a more recent WHO statement calls palliative care "an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness." In some cases, palliative treatments may be used to alleviate the side effects of curative treatments, such as relieving the nausea associated with chemotherapy.
The term is not generally used with regard to a chronic disease such as diabetes which, although currently incurable, has treatments that are (ideally) effective enough that it is not considered a progressive or life-threatening disease in the same sense as cancer or progressive neurological conditions. It is, however, occasionally used with regard to some diseases, such as chronic, progressive pulmonary disorders and end stage renal disease or chronic heart failure.
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Palliative Care
Sense of Pain : nociception
India To Provide Incentives For Medical Professionals To Work In Rural, Underserved Areas
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0700
In an effort to encourage medical professionals to provide services to low-income rural populations in India, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced an initiative that will significantly raise the salary of "doctors, specialists and para-medical staff" who elect to work in "rural, particularly far-flung and inaccessible areas," the Hindu reports.
Doctors And Nurses Facing Tough Choices
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0700
Doctors and nurses consider job security and the differences between primary care and specialties when choosing their career paths.The Business Courier of Cincinnati reports on an increase in nursing: "The recession has people craving a safe harbor, and nursing is probably the closest thing to it.
Washington State Nurse-Midwife Receives The Hattie Award, American College Of Nurse-Midwives' Highest Honor
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 -0700
Katherine Camacho Carr, CNM, PhD, a certified nurse-midwife, professor and assistant dean of graduate studies at the Seattle University College of Nursing, is the recipient of the 2009 Hattie Hemschemeyer Award from the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM.) The "Hattie" is ACNM's most prestigious award and was presented to Carr at ACNM's 54th Annual Meeting in Seattle.
Journal of Research in Nursing current issue
A commission into nursing; an insular exercise or a welcome opportunity?
Bishop, V. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0000
A decade of improvement for cardiac patients in England
Quinn, T. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0000
Cardiac rehabilitation research: new perspectives for a new century
Clarke, S. P Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0000
Evidence-Based Nursing current issue
[Purpose and procedure] Purpose and procedure
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0000
[EBN notebook] A beginner's guide to probability
Thompson, C. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0000
[EBN notebook] A spotter's guide to study designs
Glasziou, P., Heneghan, C. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0000
Research in Nursing & Health
Pediatric nurses' thinking in response to vignettes on administering analgesics
Catherine Van Hulle Vincent, Erica J. Gaddy Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:03:00 -0000
Pediatric nurses are not administering available and recommended analgesics to hospitalized children after surgery. This descriptive study was conducted to examine 30 pediatric nurses' thinking - in response to case study vignettes - about pain assessment and morphine administration for children experiencing postoperative pain. Nurses considered numerous factors when assessing and managing children's pain, including pain level, vital signs, and facial expression. Nurses frequently relied, however, on behavioral and physiological manifestations, as opposed to self-report, when choosing whether to administer morphine. Nurses demonstrated misconceptions about pharmacokinetics and unwarranted concerns about the adverse effects of morphine. These findings partly explain why children continue to report high levels of pain after surgery and why nurses may not administer adequate analgesics to relieve children's pain. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health
Effects of coping skills training in school-age children with type 1 diabetes
Margaret Grey, Robin Whittemore, Sarah Jaser, Jodie Ambrosino, Evie Lindemann, Lauren Liberti, Veronika Northrup, James Dziura Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:42:00 -0000
Children with type 1 diabetes are at risk for negative psychosocial and physiological outcomes, particularly as they enter adolescence. The purpose of this randomized trial (n = 82) was to determine the effects, mediators, and moderators of a coping skills training intervention (n = 53) for school-aged children compared to general diabetes education (n = 29). Both groups improved over time, reporting lower impact of diabetes, better coping with diabetes, better diabetes self-efficacy, fewer depressive symptoms, and less parental control. Treatment modality (pump vs. injections) moderated intervention efficacy on select outcomes. Findings suggest that group-based interventions may be beneficial for this age group. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health
Research on the care environment: Celebrating signs of success, posing questions to advance future investigations
Bonnie Mowinski Jennings Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:42:00 -0000
No Abstract.
Growth House - Resources for bereavement and grief, death and dying, death with dignity, euthanasia, hospice, palliative care, suicide, terminal illness, AIDS, HIV, and related topics.
Meta Description: [ The Internet's leading portal for information about end-of-life care. Resources for death and dying, hospice and palliative care, grief, and related topics. ]
Children's Hospice International - Provides a network of support and care for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Membership information, publications, guidelines for how to tell children and discussion board.
Meta Description: [ Ensuring medical, psychological, social, spiritual support to all children with life-threatening conditions and their families from the time of diagnosis by providing a network of resources and care. ]
Crossing the Creek - A practical guide to dying process for the dying and caregivers, written by a nurse. Explains normal changes, interventions and the work of dying.
Meta Description: [ A practical guide to understanding death and the dying process. ]
Hospice Care Ring - A place for hospice workers, caregivers, and people who know first hand about grief and healing to come together to share ideas, and help each other.
Meta Description: [ HospiceRing includes websites that pertain to compassionate care for the dying and bereaved. Sites included may offer information to patients, caregivers, those who are grieving a loss, volunteers, or ]
Symptoms in Terminal Illness - Transcript from a research workshop which offers articles, definitions and issues at the end of life.
Tennessee End of Life Partnership - A nonprofit organization, aiming at continually defining and promoting optimum practices in end of life care. Offers membership information, updates and related links.
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