End of Life and Spirituality Flashcards
Loss, dying, and death are?
Universal, incontestable events of human experience that cannot be stopped or controlled.
Define Greif.
An individuals response to loss
Define Loss.
Broadly considered to include anything that has meaning to the person
Define Mourning.
Includes those behaviors used to incorporate loss into one’s life, influenced by social and cultural norms
Define Bereavement.
The active and evolving process as one copes with grief.
What are physical factors influencing the grieving process?
Concurrent medical conditions, use of sedatives, nutritional and exercise
What are emotional factors influencing the grieving process?
Coping behavior and personality, previous experiences with loss/death, circumstances surrounding loss, presence of concurrent stress or crisis.
What are social factors influencing the grieving process?
Support systems, educational, economic and occupational status, sociocultural, ethnic, religious or philosophic background.
What are the 6 C’s of nursing actions that promote a good death?
Care, Control, Composure, Continuity, Closure, Communication
Define Hospice
Affirm life, but never denies death. Recognizes dying as a normal process of life. Honors wishes, offers choices, brings commitment and compassion. Strengthens families. is about faith, hope and caring.
What does an individual need to qualify for hospice care?
Serious progressive illness, limited life expectancy, Life expectancy physician certification of terminal illness
Define Palliative Care
An approach to care which improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-threating illness, through the prevention, assessment, and treatment of pain and other physical, psychological and spiritual problems.
What is the goal of palliative care?
Improve the quality of life for patient and family
When is palliative care appropriate?
At any time, when the reduction of suffering is the primary goal and can be combined with curative treatment.
For patients with cancer, heart failure, stroke, COPD, and kidney failure, what can palliative care do.
Along with regular treatment, it can increase the life span for these individuals.
What is the focus of palliative care?
Symptoms, Communication, and Finding the right services outside the hospital.
What are emotional symptoms of approaching death?
Withdrawal, restlessness, unusual communication
What are the physical symptoms of approaching death?
Coolness, Disorientation, increased sleeping, incontinence, noisy respirations, restlessness, decreased intake and output, altered breathing pattern
Define euthanasia
someone other than the patient commits an action/omission with the intent to end the dying patients life to relieve suffering
For long term feeding tubes, what type is used?
PEG Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy
True or false, feeding tubes used at end of life care decrease aspiration, improve survival, and improve wound healing?
False
Define Terminal sedation
Relief of refractory symptoms by whatever means necessary, even if doing so results in a hastened death.
The intention of terminal sedation must be what?
To relieve suffering, not to evoke death
Are palliative sedation and terminal sedation the same thing?
Yes
