End of Life Care Flashcards
Define palliative care.
Treatment, care and support for people with a life-limiting illness, and their family and friends.
Define end of life care.
Treatment, care and support for people who are nearing the end of their life.
- An important part of palliative care.
Define supportive care.
Care that helps the patient and their family to cope with their condition through the process of diagnosis and treatment to cure, continuing illness or death and bereavement.
List 9 characteristics of palliative care according to the WHO.
1 - Provides relief from pain.
2 - Regards dying as a normal process.
3 - Neither hastens or postpones death.
4 - Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of care (is holistic).
5 - Offers a support system to help the patients and their families to cope and live actively.
6 - Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families.
7 - Enhances quality of life.
8 - Is applicable early in the course of illness.
Define total pain.
The suffering that encompasses all of a person’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual problems.
List the 3 leading causes of death in England and Wales.
1 - Deaths attributable to dementia and alzheimer disease.
2 - Coronary artery disease.
3 - Chronic lower respiratory diseases.
List 7 services / institutions involved in palliative care.
1 - GPs.
2 - Hospices.
3 - Hospitals.
4 - Bereavement services.
5 - Department of work and pensions.
6 - Social services.
7 - Community nursing.
List the aims of the NHS end of life care strategy.
1 - To bring about change in quality of care for people approaching the end of life.
2 - To enhance choice at the end of life.
3 - To deliver the government’s manifesto commitment to double investment in palliative care.
4 - To cover all conditions.
5 - To cover all care settings.
6 - To develop within the current legal framework.
List the recommendations made following the review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients (Neuberger Report).
1 - Phasing out the LCP and replacing it with an individual end of life care plan.
2 - A general principle that a patient should only be placed on the LCP by a senior responsible clinician in consultation with the healthcare team.
3 - Give clinicians a decision to withdraw life support.
4 - A call for the nursing and midwifery council to issue guidance on end of life care.
5 - An end to incentive payments for use of the LCP.
6 - A new system-wide approach to improving the quality of care for the dying.
List 7 indicators of poor or deteriorating health.
1 - Unplanned hospital admissions.
2 - Poor performance status with limited reversibility.
3 - Dependence on others for care.
4 - The person’s carer needs more support.
5 - Progressive weight loss.
6 - Persistent symptoms despite optimal treatment.
7 - The person chooses to stop having treatment and focus on quality of life through palliative care.
List the 2 components of advanced care planning.
1 - An advanced statement.
2 - Advanced decisions to refuse treatment (ADRT) / advance directive.
What is the difference between an advanced statement and advanced decisions to refuse treatment (ADRT) / advance directive?
- An advanced statement formalises what patients and their family wish to happen to them and is not legally binding.
- Advanced decisions to refuse treatment formalises what patients do not wish to happen to them and is legally binding.
