Palliative Care Flashcards
True or False: Child must be terminally ill or at the end of life for palliative care
False
True or false: Child must have a DNR to have hospice care
False
True or false: child must abandon all disease directed treatment to receive palliative care
False
True or false: child must abandon primary care team and movie to a different unit for palliative care
False
True or False: Administering opioids causes respiratory depression and quickens death
False
What is the consequence of mislabelling in palliative care?
the CARE is palliative not the patient
What do consequences of myths foster:
Doing nothing, leading to feelings of giving up, losing hope, last resort
WHO definition of palliative care
an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Pediatric Palliative Care Definition
for those 17 minus a day
o A combination of active and compassionate therapies to comfort and support children and families living with a life threatening/limiting illness
o To provide a framework for discussion of balancing the benefits and risks of any intervention
What are life threatening/limiting illnesses
Conditions where survival into adulthood is a challenges
Malignancies, respiratory, CNS degeneration/abnormalities, syndromes, CV, neuromuscular, metabolic, transplants
Old palliative care paradigm
- clear demarcation between curative and palliative
- palliative when close to death
- little bereavement > only involved at end of life
New palliative care model
- no demarcation between curative and palliative
- benefit long before death
- involvement throughout care and extends beyond death
- care in the home
- encompasses family
Benefit of early involvement of palliative care
for symptom management and decreases feeling of stress when increased services are necessary.
Less stress when they know ahead of time/before end of life care is necessary
Keys to good palliative care
Effective communication and impeccable planning
How does disease trajectory in pediatric palliative effect care?
often means support for years – diagnosis at birth causes palliative to follow into adulthood
What considerations are made for familial life limiting illnesses?
some families have to go through this more than one time and make decisions re limiting family (future children) – autosomal diseases
What do families want from palliative care?
- positive consistent relationships with caregivers/care team
- comprehensive information from familiar staff
- adequate pain management
- contact after the child’s death
- cultural awareness
- support for siblings
- care in setting of choice
What symptoms are mainly managed in palliative?
- pain
- dyspnea
- bleeding
- N/V
- secretions
- constipation/obstruction
- fatigue
- seizures
- irritability/agitation
- decreased appetite
4 difficult decisions in palliative care
- goals of care: what do parents want if child stops breathing
- resuscitation guidelines
- withdrawal of artificial support
- ethical decisions
3 criteria for withdrawal of artificial support
- imminent death
- brain death
- child with no small bowel
True or false: resuscitation guidelines are set in stone
False
What is important in providing parents guidance on resuscitation guidelines
Assure understanding of prognosis and that regardless of interventions, outcome is the same. What differs is the interventions/how we get to the outcome regardless of choice