Palliative care
SAQ.
The patient was admitted 2 days ago with severe breathlessness. He has squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, which was initially diagnosed 2 years ago, when he had a lobectomy. The cancer recurred 6 months ago, with multiple metastases in the lungs and bones. Now he is being planned to go for palliative management.
- Briefly discuss about Palliative care
Palliative care:
- This is the holistic care of patients with advanced, progressive, incurable illness
- Focused on the management of a patient’s pain and other distressing symptoms and
- Provision of psychological, social and spiritual support to patients and their families.
- Palliative care is not dependent on diagnosis or prognosis, and can be provided at any stage of a patient’s illness, not only in the last few days of life.
- The objective is to support patients to live as well as possible until they die and to die with dignity.
- Palliative management is that management that focuses on
- Keeping symptoms free
- Keeping as comfortable as possible
- Improving the quality of life
- DNR is usually discussed in the Palliative care management plan. What do you mean by DNR?
DNR:
- do-not-resuscitate order, or DNR order, is a medical order written by a doctor. It instructs health care providers
- Ideally, a DNR order is created, or set up, before an emergency occurs. A DNR order allows you to choose whether or not you want CPR in an emergency. It is specific about CPR.