End Of Life
Essays

End-of-life decision making has gone through some great changes in the last 50 years. These changes have to do with societal attitudes about death, dying and healthcare at the end of a person's life and how they have…

Death is the cessation of the association between ones mind and their body. The majority of people believe that death occurs when the heart stops beating; but this does not denote that the person has died, for the…

My significant learning experience related to end of life care surrounded two particular issues: communication with the patient and family members and the concept of caregiver grief. This internal grief fits well with the communication issue because communication with the client and family are external, while caregiver grief is internal. The focal point of the assignment, however, is to examine the way in which I applied these learning issues to my practice, nursing a patient with Alzheimer's disease at the end of life and then analyzing my own communication skills when interacting with the patient and family members. Reflection is defined as a process of reviewing an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse and evaluate to inform externally and develop internally regarding a practice, theory, or set of events.

In this age of increased social diversity the cultural aspects of end-of-life care have become increasingly important in the nursing profession. This importance is however complicated by technology and the cultural…

Imagine this scenario: a patient has end stage heart failure, coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and sleep apnea. She has refused any invasive treatments for many…

The difference between these articles and that of the two quoted studies is several-fold. Firstly, both McMillan and Small (2007) and Rosedale and Fu (2010) feature a certain disease - cancer – and described reduction of pain in connection with that. Ferrell and Coyles (2010), on the other hand, was more general, drawing up lists of drugs that are allegedly helpful in reducing pain, describing these drugs, and using their research studies to advice patients on all matters related to these drugs including their limitations. Tables, too, generously sprinkle their commentary and categorize the information in clear form. Ferrell and Coyles (2010), therefore, provided their readers with a descriptive meta-analytic study that was intended for the informative intent of caregivers (and patients). Readers are accorded the information of the various drugs available to them for relieving their pain (or the pain of patients). All necessary details are also provided so that readers can know when to best apply them.

Sometimes, when a human life is coming to an end, the most crucial aspect of providing holistic ethical health care is not maintaining life, but maintaining a semblance of familiarity and routine for the individual in…

This paper consists of a series of six questions dealing with ethical issues related to hospice care. The topics include the conflicting desires of the dying patient versus his or her spouse; the ways in which to break bad news to patients; dealing with cultural differences when dispensing care; and identifying spiritual crises in patients of different faith traditions.

This paper deals with several separate issues pertaining to end-of-life care and hospice care in the form of six essays. The first essays deal with the unique social and spiritual needs of dying patients and their families; the actions of patients about to face death; and caregiver needs. The final essays deal with the need for nurses to engage in self-care to remedy the stress of tending to the dying.

Nurses are often conflicted regarding their personal feelings and ethical responsibilities. Working with terminally ill patients who are suffering is very difficult and there are instances of nurses performing euthanasia. Instead nurses should be prepared to provide support to patients and to their families, but it is quite clear that it becomes and ethical violation when the nurse personally extends their role to include terminating the patient's life. Moreover, there are obviously legal concerns here; however this paper will discuss the ethical implications only.