Palliative Care Research Paper
Module Title: Palliative Care
Module Code: 6NU507
CONTENTS:
Introduction: page 3
Main body: pages 4- 10
Conclusion: pages 10-11
References: pages 12-14
Appendix 1: pages 15-17
The following assignment will discuss the palliative care of a lady who died recently at a local hospice but was originally cared for in the community. Costello (2004) suggests that globally over one million people die each week. In 2006 Northern Ireland had 14,532 deaths (Mortality Statistics within Northern Ireland, NISRA, 2006). These figures suggest that palliative care is of great significance both locally …show more content…
The expertise in palliative care is firmly rooted in cancer care (Kinghorn and Gaines 2007). More recently however, palliative care has been widened to cover many diseases, including the end stages of chronic illnesses such as renal disease, motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s. In 2003 the National Council for Palliative Care policy document asserted that all people with an advanced incurable disease should be offered palliative care appropriate to their needs. WHO’s latest palliative care definition in 2013 states that palliative care is the improvement of quality of life for all patients with a life threatening illness. As a patient with ovarian cancer, Agnes did have access to a wide range of support services. She could access Macmillan services, including grants, Marie curie and other charitable organisations and support networks. Agnes remained independent for as long as possible, however, and was reluctant at times to accept the help offered to her.
Palliative guidelines and policies exist to promote good standards of care (Kinghorn and Gaines 2007). Guidance can be sourced from the Department of Health (DH), National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and NHS frameworks on palliative care. Other local initiatives can also be used to promote best practice with the ultimate goal being high quality palliative care for the patient and family. Inequalities in care remain for patients with non-cancer conditions but the Gold Standards Framework is one of the initiatives aimed at tackling this (Faull et al
Module Code: 6NU507
CONTENTS:
Introduction: page 3
Main body: pages 4- 10
Conclusion: pages 10-11
References: pages 12-14
Appendix 1: pages 15-17
The following assignment will discuss the palliative care of a lady who died recently at a local hospice but was originally cared for in the community. Costello (2004) suggests that globally over one million people die each week. In 2006 Northern Ireland had 14,532 deaths (Mortality Statistics within Northern Ireland, NISRA, 2006). These figures suggest that palliative care is of great significance both locally …show more content…
The expertise in palliative care is firmly rooted in cancer care (Kinghorn and Gaines 2007). More recently however, palliative care has been widened to cover many diseases, including the end stages of chronic illnesses such as renal disease, motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s. In 2003 the National Council for Palliative Care policy document asserted that all people with an advanced incurable disease should be offered palliative care appropriate to their needs. WHO’s latest palliative care definition in 2013 states that palliative care is the improvement of quality of life for all patients with a life threatening illness. As a patient with ovarian cancer, Agnes did have access to a wide range of support services. She could access Macmillan services, including grants, Marie curie and other charitable organisations and support networks. Agnes remained independent for as long as possible, however, and was reluctant at times to accept the help offered to her.
Palliative guidelines and policies exist to promote good standards of care (Kinghorn and Gaines 2007). Guidance can be sourced from the Department of Health (DH), National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and NHS frameworks on palliative care. Other local initiatives can also be used to promote best practice with the ultimate goal being high quality palliative care for the patient and family. Inequalities in care remain for patients with non-cancer conditions but the Gold Standards Framework is one of the initiatives aimed at tackling this (Faull et al