The Role of Nurses in the End of Life Care Discussion Paper

The Role of Nurses in the End of Life Care Discussion Paper

The Role of Nurses in the End of Life Care Discussion Paper

End-of-life care is a process that marks an inevitable eventuality for all humans. There is a rising need for end-of-life care owing to the increasing level of the aging population as well as chronic medical conditions with high morbidity and mortality. This process is not only stressful for the healthcare teams but also for the patient’s families and friends. Palliative care is, therefore, becoming a common encounter within healthcare facilities for healthcare professionals including nurses. Nurses play a fundamental role in the provision of quality end-of-life care that meets the needs of  patient and their families.

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Various pertinent issues affecting the patient and their families surround end-of-life care. These considerations include open and honest communication, the patient’s cultural and spiritual needs, the plan of care, ethical considerations,  pain relief, symptomatic control, and termination of life-sustaining care (Huffman et al., 2022). These issues should provide a framework for nurses for adequate decision-making regarding appropriate and holistic end-of-life care. Nurses should thus initiate discussions around end-of-life care with the patient and their families. The treatment plan should conform to the patient’s preferences and wishes expressed through informed consent or advanced directives if the patient is incapacitated.

Nurses also have the responsibility of ensuring adequate information regarding the patient’s treatment is availed to the family. They should always be available to provide emotional support, validate patient and family feelings, foster strength, and resilience as well as bridge the journey between life and demise (Boby, 2020). This way, the patient will accept their terminal condition and the eventuality of imminent death. The family members will also come to terms with end-of-life care decisions such as termination of life-sustaining care in the context of futile medical interventions that unnecessarily prolong the patient’s suffering. All these will be achieved by working collaboratively with the other healthcare teams.

References

Boby, S. (2020). End of life – The nurses’ perspective. Qatar Medical Journal, 2019(2). https://doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2019.qccc.19

Huffman, J. L., & Harmer, B. (2022). End of Life Care. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

 

What is a nurses role in the End-of Life care and how do they help family and patients