QUALITY OF LIFE & FUNCTIONING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

QUALITY OF LIFE & FUNCTIONING - Essay Example On the other hand, if I had a similar perception of quality of life with her family, we could discuss their problems, giving me a chance to help them get through with the ordeal. It becomes easier to empathize with the patient while she accepts the fact that she is dying, and it allows me to help ease the journey for her and her family. B. Palliative care is all about improving the quality of life for patients undergoing a terminal illness and are expecting death. Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston published a report which identified factors that greatly affected patient’s quality of life at the end of their lives. Two of the most powerful determinants of poor patient quality of life were dying in a hospital or being admitted to the ICU during the last week of life. No patient wants that, and considering how the patient does not have much in the way of money, additional hospital costs would severely stress the family. A good strategy would be to preven t these by keeping the patient home while assessing him regularly for complications which should be promptly treated before the patient would need to go to the hospital. Another thing that impacts the quality of life would be the patient's level of worry at the beginning of care. As a nurse, we must dispel the patient’s worries and fears by providing them with information and offering to them your help as a nurse. Try to forge a therapeutic alliance with the patient to make them feel like they are being taken care of holistically. Lastly, religion plays a large role in many people’s lives, and during the end of life, many people would like to talk with a religious figure such as a priest or pastor before they pass away. Bringing in a pastor at the request of the patient could help ease the feeling of dying with the thought of her God watching over her and her remaining family. Religion could also help the family cope with the situation (Nordqvist, 2012) C. Pain and fat igue from the treatment and the stresses of her illness cause Mrs. Thomas to lose the ability to care for herself, and this problem can only get worse over the course of her illness. She needs to find ways to make taking care of herself easier, and find other ways to do help her husband and family do it for her once she reaches the point wherein she can no longer do it herself. Pain is a major deterrent to the patient’s ability to perform her activities of daily life. This pain caused her to lose her job, and her insistence on not taking the pain relief medication leaves her crying in the daytime. Reducing the pain nonpharmacologically would really help in increasing Mrs. Thomas’s functionality. There are many nonpharmacological pain methods that could be done by Mrs. Thomas or with the help of Mr. Thomas. Massage and backrubs are can be very effective when done correctly. Teaching this to Mr. Thomas would allow him to care for his wife when she needs help with the pai n. Since Mr. Thomas has to work, there would be times wherein Mrs. Thomas would be left alone. To handle the pain during these times, she can apply warm and cold compresses to the painful areas, and if she has trouble sleeping because of the pain, she can try to reposition herself to find a comfortable position. Diversional activities can also help, especially if they are done in combination