Evaluate the effectiveness of organisational policies and procedures in supporting individuals and their social networks affected by significant life events.
(DHS, 2014). Policies are clear, understanding statements of how organisation intends to conduct their services. They provide a set of guiding principles to help with decision making. While procedures describe how each policy will be put into action in an organisation and outline the procedure:
Who will do what?
What steps they need to take
Which forms or documents to use.
Cruise bereavement care (CBC), provide free support and counselling on a one-to-one basis, there polices is personalise to meet the individual need, example is coping capacity, they offer free information and advice to anyone who has been affected by a death, and offer education, support, information and publications to anyone supporting bereaved people and provide social groups to provide an opportunity for bereaved people to meet and talk with other people in a similar situation and to make friends. If George was refer to CBC from the onset, they may help reduce the stressful situation he was going through.
Macmillan Cancer Care (MCC) for example: offers one off grant policy to support the dying in dealing with various bills like heating also support forum for bereaved spouses and partners. MCC, also fund nurses and other health care professionals and build cancer care centers, people need practical support at home, and they provide respite, a precious time off for a career, a lift to a hospital. Mrs Garry suffer and die from bowel cancer MCC volunteer may have being with Mrs Garry if she choose to, to ease her son through the last stage of dying.
Shaping Bereavement Care, 2010. for example: coordinate ...
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...pists, GP, psychologist, CBC, MCC, spiritual support, and community leaders, they assist the persons to improve their general welfare and well-being although not all referral are successful in eradicating depression a patient.
External support from voluntary organisations offer free information and advice to anyone who has been affected by a death, or significant event, CBC provide free support and counselling on a one-to-one basis, to help patient’s, some nurses are far too busy with paper work to informed service users as in the case of George, external support that may educate, and support, with information and publications that will assist bereaved people, they also form social groups to provide an opportunity for sharing experience with others people in similar situation, for George it is suitable support, other patient may see it as weakness and time wasting.
After reading the different stories in the book “Final Gifts”, I believe I have a better understanding of the nurse’s role in caring for the needs of the dying patient and how their families need to be guided through this experience. The different stories in this book provide insight into the experiences of the dying as well as how their loved ones cope with their loss. The authors Maggie Callahan and Patrician Kelly, experienced hospice nurses who have extensive exposure to dying patients and their families, through their shared stories, paint a picture of what the dying want. To many, death is a difficult concept.
...s and carers) will share in the cost of pain and suffering, treatment and other out-of-pocket expenses, lost income and funeral costs. Employers may be confronted with absenteeism, productivity loss, idle assets or potential rehiring and retraining of replacements (Cancer Council, Cost of Cancer in NSW). This has flow-on effects to end consumers who must pay more for goods and services to cover this cost. Similarly, the government loses taxation revenue from lost income, and must provide services such as welfare, respite/palliative care and education (Cancer Council, Cost of Cancer in NSW). Finally, the rest of society such as non-government organisations and charities pick up the cost of community programs and education(Cancer Council, Cost of Cancer in NSW). This indicates that CRC ultimately has a pervasive scope, affecting all strata of society and its members.
The preface focuses on the type of care Hospice provides for the patient and family, while the section entitled "Hospice is..." provides a detailed definition of hospice.Chapter One demonstrates the sensitivity a hospice nurse must use when dealing with new patients and how the nurse must remain unbiased at all times. Chapter Two reviews the family emotional strains and stresses which can be experienced when a loved one is dying within the home and how different people deal with the change. In Chapter Three we can develop a deeper understanding of an individual's strength and acceptance through the story of Karen, a seven year old who is dying from cancer. The different coping mechanisms expressed by Karen's parents are very contrast dramatically as the needs of survivors vary.Chapter Four highlights patients' need for control and decision making over his or her own life. In Chapter Five, Henrietta, the patient had very little control over her treatment and pain because her husband refused to accept her dying, until Janice (hospice nurse) promised her dignity during death. In Chapter Six, William tries a new method of pain control and his spirits are lifted as he once again has some control in his life as expressed in his statement, "I can't believe the power I have"(1, p.194).
Hospice focuses on end of life care. When patients are facing terminal illness and have an expected life sentence of days to six months or less of life. Care can take place in different milieu including at home, hospice care center, hospital, and skilled nursing facility. Hospice provides patients and family the tool and resources of how to come to the acceptance of death. The goal of care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. A team of health care providers and volunteers are responsible for providing care. A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will patients care. The patient is allowed to decide who their primary doctor will be while receiving hospice care. It may be a primary care physician or a hospice physician. Nurses provide care at home by vising patient at home or in a hospital setting facility. Nurses are responsible for coordination of the hospice care team. Home health aides provide support for daily and routine care ( dressing, bathing, eating and etc). Spiritual counselors, Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family. Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems. Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective
Hospice Care refers to the focus on quality of care and life rather than treatment and curative options for someone and their disease. This type of care includes not only the patient, but also their family and physician. Dame Cicely Saunders states, “You matter because of who you are. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” With this quote, Saunders reflects what Hospice believes in and their commitment, or duty, for the patient. Patients who are terminally ill can be considered as patients with cancer, diabetes, and many more diseases. Very few cancer patients have a type of cancer that has a known cure, and unlike those patients many other cancer patients possess a type of cancer that is curable today. Terminally ill patients have to choose between continuing treatment or being provided with Hospice Care. Both hope and Hospice means that the patient can have both the benefit from treatments, which give them hope that the disease could be cured or at least reduce the symptoms, and Hospice Care, which provides the patients with relieve of pain and
The difference between legislation, policy, procedures and guidelines are, legislation is an act of parliament. This is a document that has a legal requirement to follow it, either in work, social or personal situations. A couple of examples of a Legalisation would be. Health and Safety at work act 1974 and Data protection Act 1998. These both have to be followed as they are a legal requirement which could potentially lead to a safeguarding issue or even prosecution. Usually all Legislations have ‘ACT’ on the end. Policy is a document which is usually kept in your work place office which holds the important information but a shorter version of a Legislation, and what you could relate to in a work place when you need a basis for standards and training. A Procedure is usually paperwork which gives you step by step guidance on what to do in certain situations. A single policy may be supported by a number of producers for example; Safeguarding may have a number of different procedures to follow in a particular situation.
My earliest experiences of observing nursing in action occurred during my last two years of high school. My father was diagnosed with cancer during the spring of my junior year and died right before my senior year. During that short time I watched as the nurses cared for him and I could see compassion and empathy in the way they looked at him. It never occurred to me until after I had raised my children that I wanted to be able to help people in the same way those nurses helped my dad. But now when I tell people that I want to be an oncology nurse, people often respond by saying that they would never choose that type of nursing. They say that they could not stand to watch their patients die so frequently. Their reactions, along with this course in death and dying, have made me question how I might be able to bear the challenges of nursing in an area where death of my patients may be common. I believe that oncology will be a positive specialty to work in because of the consistent advances in prevention, early detection, and treatment of cancer. Furthermore, I believe that William Worden’s four tasks of mourning as presented in our text book is a good framework for the oncology nurse to use in order to cope with the repeated losses inherent in this type of nursing (Leming and Dickinson, 2011).
Nurses are both blessed and cursed to be with patients from the very first moments of life until their final breath. With those last breaths, each patient leaves someone behind. How do nurses handle the loss and grief that comes along with patients dying? How do they help the families and loved ones of deceased patients? Each person, no matter their background, must grieve the death of a loved one, but there is no right way to grieve and no two people will have the same reaction to death. It is the duty of nurses to respect the wishes and grieving process of each and every culture; of each and every individual (Verosky, 2006). This paper will address J. William Worden’s four tasks of mourning as well as the nursing implications involved – both when taking care of patients’ families and when coping with the loss of patients themselves.
Palliative care involves the holistic care to maintain and improve the quality of life of the patient and family during hospitalisation until the terminal stage. Palliation of care refers to the multidisciplinary approach of providing comfort and support for the terminally ill patient and family, thus has an important role in maintaining and improving the quality of life of the whole family. Chronic illness such as cancer gives a physiologic and emotional burden for the patient and family. Education and counselling of the possible options as well as treatments for pain and other symptoms that could help alleviate anxiety, suffering and discomfort. Palliative care provides assistance for the family as a channel for communication between the
“Persons intentionally choose to become nurses to help patients meet their health needs,” even when the patient is actively dying. (Wu & Volker, 2012) Hospice nursing and palliative care nursing are both considered end of life care. However, hospice nursing is typically given to patients with a terminal illness and who have less than six months to live. Palliative care is typically given to patients with a life threatening illness, and is used to increase the patient’s quality of life. Choosing a nursing career in either hospice or palliative care can be extremely difficult, but will provide an opportunity for great personal growth. At times, an end-of-life caregiver may feel responsible for their patient’s death, or they may feel isolated due to a lack of support. Nurses new to this field should “feel that their unit acknowledges death as a difficult event and that discussion of death is acceptable in the workplace.” (Lewis, 2013) The most rewarding, and also most difficult, part of being a hospice or palliative care nurse is the ability to be a part of your patient and their family’s life, including their loss, grief, and death. (Wu & Volker, 2012)
Nurses work in many situations where they will observe patients and their families experiencing grief and loss. In order for patients to receive the utmost care it is imperative for nurses to have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of these theories and the stages of grief and loss to facilitate support to their patients and their patients families.
This paper is an academic critique of an article written by Lautrette, et al. (2007) titled: “A Communication Strategy and Brochure for Relatives of Patients Dying in the ICU” and accurately reflected the content of the article and the research study itself. The abstract explained the article in more detail, while remaining concise. The type of research study, sample size, variables, intervention, measurement method, findings, and conclusion were all mentioned in the abstract.
A social worker must have the knowledge and skills to apply to intervention strategies that can address key issues through a wide range of tools (Miley, O’Melia & Dubois 2013, p. 7). To devise an intervention plan for the case study, Miley’s (2013, p. 112) four step model is utilised.
The nurse stated during the interview that “holding the hand of the patient just diagnosed with a terminal illness” (Appendix A) is difficult and requires a variety of techniques to face the situation. There are many ways to approach a dying patient, and one study identified four themes that help nurses in creating a “’curtain of protection’ to mitigate the grieving process and allow them to provide supportive nursing care” (Gerow et al., 2010). Of the four approached, there is one that appears to make the greatest impact on the nurse; the fact that initial patient deaths are formative. In this case, a study found that “significant death experiences early in a nurse’s career set the foundation for how the nurse began caring for future dying patients” (Gerow et al., 2010), which was further explained as the fact that those who had enough support and mentorship early on in their nursing practice were more likely to not be emotionally damaged by the event, and were able to better approach similar situations in the future. I plan on implementing this strategy in the future by surrounding myself with colleagues and mentors within my practice that I am comfortable confiding in whenever I happen to be struggling. A strong support network is key for maintaining proper emotional health, which is important for a nurse to have when working with vulnerable patients and providing competent
A social support system is a network of family members, friends and different types of organizations a person belongs to. These social support systems can be tied to the individual based on the persons age, gender, relationships, number of years known and have close ties to the geographical proximity one lives in. These support networks provide emotional and instrumental support. Some of the benefits of these networks include emotional support which include a sense of belonging, increased feelings of self-worth and feelings of security. Some of these social support networks provide instrumental support which include provided financial assistance, provide goods or services or even provide information and guidance. Instrumental support helps