Quality of Life for the Patient and Family Essay

look of demeanor has a different meaning for e rattling maven. M some(prenominal) psycheal thoughts and feelings abide come into play when caring for new(prenominal)s during the halt stages of life. even so as a harbor and cargongiver, these opinions essential be put aside at this signifi keept era. For somewhat soundness negociate take into accountrs, we may feel that retentiveness the enduring of comfortable and having them surrounded by family is close to central. However, for the patient, personal culture, lifestyle and note value for one self as well as a finger of independence in handling this time just is most imperative. Therefor a comfort essential consider the individuals past experiences, look lifestyle and personal hopes in which they choose to bouncy in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns at this stage.One essential(prenominal) meet not only the corporeal need of the patient nevertheless the psychosocial demands in this sensitive time of need. Seeking aggressive aesculapian treatment vs. alleviatory c be is something that is very personal and differs from individual to individual. Nurses opinions and suggestions of the ruff care should not be voiced to the patient or family, even if asked now. For Mrs. doubting Thomas, time as well plays an important role. She is young and may have many other worries than those of an older age experience in preparing for end of life. A nurse must consider what areas of life are important to her and what is the relative importance of apiece of these areas. Personal perception that counting on family software documentation is huge, but may not be workable in Mrs. Thomas situation as her children bang out of town.STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFEThe nurse should look at several strategies that directly furbish up the patient as well as the family. Quality of life not only looks at the health experimental condition the patient but those directly winding in the care of the patient. This encompasses a broader set of intend including finances, housing, and employment. This pull up stakes have a direct wallop on the entire family.Three important strategies that are jockstrapful to relieve boilers suit stress and support optimal coping skills overwhelm 1) patient consciousness of disease process, 2) available support from healthcare providers and 3) addressing physical as well as the psychosocial needfully of the patient. health care professionals must be prepared and give tongue to directly with the patient and family when it is determined best to the physicians ability, that the identified disease of breast cancer will cause death. Advance planning and preparation may be garterful in dying well if Mrs. Thomas is more aware about her status of disease. Physicians and nurses must change the plan of aggressive medical treatments of curing the disease of breast cancer and decoct providing support and a comfortable we ll macrocosm of the deteriorating disease process. This in turn should provide a plan of care for relief of pain, contentment to the patient and focus on the overall consentaneous organism of quality of life.The family unitcare team up can include doctors, nurses, home health underworld, social workers, and clergy as well as trained volunteers. Most team members provide on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a workweek to deliver support. The patient and family should feel the comfort in calling these resources at anytime. The nurse must cue Mrs. Thomas and her husband that they are not bothering any team member by asking for assistance.The team must always work together and beam the patients goals for end-of-life care. It is important for all to bring in this is very individualized for each patient and family member. separately individual strategy should include caring for the whole person physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. It important for the team to beat stren gths based perspectives of psychosocial interventions and listen to what the patient and family have to phrase to enable them to cope bring out. In doing so, the team must also communicate on each materialize with Mrs. Thomas and family as well as each other to assure that her and the husbands needs are macrocosm met.HOLISTIC CAREA holistic treat care plan in valuable in delivering care to the entire person in supporting the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social and environmental needs. With this approach, nursing care needs to move away from view Mrs. Thomas as merely a diagnosing and treating her as a whole person. Nursing goals should be to develop immediate trust with the patient and family, provide comfort, supportive care, and symptom management. This can be achieved by effective communication and providing a calm, relaxed setting for Mrs. Thomas.Allowing her to speak openly and honestly about her feelings and emotions of grief, physical complaints such(prenomin al) as pain, nausea, and difficulty sleeping is a profound way to start to develop a trust nurse/patient relationship. As a nurse, one must be supportive and be involuntary to listen openly. Once Mrs. Thomas begins to express these types of things, the nurse must criticism and evaluate every yack to im assay specific concerns with her. More importantly, healthcare providers must display an openness to hear new concerns and range the needs of the patient and family.FUNCTIONAL ABILITYAssessments to maintain the self functional ability for Mrs. Thomas should include creating a plan to achieve realistic goals and stop self care as long as possible. This in turn can give require back to Mrs. Thomas, help raise confidence and value her quality of life. Mrs. Thomas physical, social and environmental conditions should also be considered to help her care for herself. Discussing the 24/7 availability of visits from registered nurses and social workers, involving family and friends or v olunteers that can help with ravel errands and meal preparation for adequate dietetical intake, and discussing distinguish medical equipment to assist with ADLs such as performing personal hygiene can prove to be helpful.PROVIDING ADDITIONAL CAREWhen self-care is no time-consuming possible, the importance of more frequent nurse and/or social worker visits, and interaction of clergy is valuable. In addition, march on involvement of additional family, friends, home health aides or volunteers to assist not only with running errands, meal preparation and assistance with ADLs but being present in the home for longer periods to care directly for Mrs. Thomas becomes more imperative. The nurse can assist in making sure appropriate DME equipment is in the home. In addition, this turns out to be a time when additional emotional support is of bully concern for Mr. Thomas.CHRONIC DEPRESSIONMr. Thomas already suffers from chronic depression and now has to endure large and continuous stres s to care for his wife with mod breast cancer. Over time this takes a bell his health, ability to work, finances, and their own personal and family needs. Involvement of not only the nurse, but also social worker and bereavement counselor can help Mr. Thomas tremendously. Encouraging him to take his medications will help both him and his wife. Also, reassurance that it is okay to want quiet time and allowing others to help to care for his wife should be verbalized to him in a caring manner.Taking some of the fiscal worries away from Mr. Thomas may help as well. The social worker can discuss resources that are of no cost from community volunteer organizations and review the reimbursement of covered services from the insurance organization at the beginning and in ongoing care of his wife. share-out the right information with the patients family is very important and can assist in better coping. Again, the home care team must introduce an environment that provides the openness to he ar all concerns and overall needs of not only the patient but also her family.