Meeting the Needs of a Dying Patient

Meeting the Needs of a Dying PatientTitle caring for a patient who is dying is an experience most nurses lead plaque at some stage of their career. With reference to patients you have cared for, describe how you were able to meet the needs of dying patients.As a certainty, only of us will have to face death at some stage. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to do so with caring, validating and empathetic people around us. (Seale C et al. 2003). Nurses must be able to discharge their paid responsibilities in this area with this comment in mind. In this small essay we will explore how a nurse can empathise, understand and assist the patient in dealing with the various issues that arise.We will discuss these issues in relation to one specific case, Mrs G. The case was complex, only when, in essence, it involved a lady who had just been given a terminal diagnosis and entered into a build of complete defence mechanism and overt avoidance behaviour. She would change the sub ject when talking about her health and keep herself almost manically occupied with trivial tasks so as non to have to consider the reality of the situation.Dobrantz (2005) points to the fact that it is well recognised that some patients deal with life crises simply by ignoring them, other will practice session mechanisms of varying degrees of cognitive distortion (CDs), which may range from undue optimism to complete denial (as Mrs.G did).The main nursing dilemma here is should the nurse actively continue Mrs.Gs denial and allow her to see the reality of the situation or is it perhaps kinder to allow her to continue in her state of overt denial. (Dean A. 2002)On starting time analysis, one might take the view that, given the fact that Mrs.G had only a short time left to live, it might be a kindliness to allow her not to confront the psychological pain of anticipating her imminent death. Against this argument is the opinion of a good death. (Cuttini et al. 2003). Many authoriti es (viz. Roy C 1991)that in order for a patient to have a good death, they need time to accept the inevitable and to mentally come to terms with it, answer what preparations they need (financial, practical, religious, personal) so that they can approach it in a calm and considered way. Clearly this cannot be achieved if they are actively entering into a degree of denial about the situation. (The A-M et al. 2000)Demonstrate ability to apply relevant nursing knowledge to individualised patient careThe immediate therapeutic problem to be confronted by the healthcare professionals involved is to decide the degree of collusion with the denial that can be ethically employed. (Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001). To a degree, this is a matter of personal and clinical judgement. Most experienced healthcare professionals would suggest that truth is prevalently the best policy, the degree of truth however, can be a matter of negotiation. (Parker and Lawton 2003).The important concept to embrace in t his type of situation is that of individualised patient care. In order to come to a considered decision, the nurse must carefully consider all the elements of the patients coping mechanisms and assume a holistic approach to the matter. We note that the concept of holistic care can best be depicted with the understanding that the concept of Health is ground on a translation of the Anglo Saxon word for wholeness (or holism). The key to this approach is that it recognises that health has both spiritual and psycho-social elements as well as the overtly physical. (Wright et al 2001)The main elements of managing Mrs.G s case seem to revolve around the ethical concept of autonomy (Coulter A. 2002). unmatched has to make a professional decision whether or not Mrs.G is considered to have the right to make completely autonomous decisions for herself. In many clinical situations (such as consent, for example), the issue of autonomy is virtually inviolate. There are other situations, and we suggest that this is one, where other ethical principles may take precedence. The Principle of Beneficence suggests that the healthcare professional should effectively do goodness or more accurately in these circumstances, as doing what is the best for the patient. (Dordrecht et al. 1983Demonstrate ability to make own judgment and decisions based upon the evaluation of the nursing situation.There are a number of nursing models which could be used to construct a response to this situation. They all assimilate the general nursing scheme of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. (Fawcett J 2005)The Roper, Logan, Tierney model (2000) would be appropriate to assess the activities of daily living in a problem solving manner, but this mathematical process is primarily of use in those situations that are physically orientated and therefore the psychological denial element is not clearly addressed by this model.The Roy Adaptation model (Roy 1991) is certainly more useful in ex plaining the line upive processes that the patient experiences as they come to terms with the illness role. Mrs.G however, did not adapt and, by adopting a strategy of denial, was able to maintain her belief of wellness almost until the end, when her illness in the end forced her into accepting it. In real terms, Mrs.G did not adapt at all.The Johnson Behavioural System model (Wilkerson et al 1996) suits our purposes better as it clearly describes the processes of illness denial, but it doses not combine it with the adaptive processes that eventually over besidesk Mrs.G at the end of her life.Wadenstein (et al. 2003) sums up this type of situation with the conclusion that when there is multifactorial aetiology in a given situation there is rarely one nursing model that will encompass all eventualities.ConclusionsMrs.J.s emotional pain of trying to cope with imminent death was clearly too great for her to assimilate. This must be understood by her medical attendants if she is to h ave a good death (Marks-Moran lift 1996)In order to try to run Mrs.G with the best care that she could have, the clinical staff tried to help Mrs.G towards the realisation that she should confront her own imminent mortality. Unfortunately for all concerned, this proved to be out(predicate) and Mrs.G died about two weeks after her admission, only openly acknowledging the imminence of her death when she became too weak to lift a cup of tea to her mouth on the day before she died. Arguably, when this acceptance came home to her, the nursing staff were actually able to help and support her more than Mrs.G had allowed them to in the preceding two weeks. (Yura H et al. 1998References Coulter A. 2002The autonomous patient.capital of the United Kingdom The Nuffield Trust, 2002.Cuttini, Veronica Casotto, Rodolfo Saracci, and Marcello Orzalesi 2003In search of a good death Health professionals beliefs may undermine effective pain relief pitcher for dying patientsBMJ 2003 327 222.Dean A. 2002 Talking to dying patients of their hopes and needs. Nurs Times. 2002 Oct 22-28 98( 43) 34-5.Dobratz, M 2005Gently Into the Light A Call for the Critical Analysis of End-of-Life Outcomes. Advances in Nursing Science.Nursing feel for Outcomes. 28(2)116-126, April/June 2005Dordrecht Kluwer. Beauchamp, T. and Childress, J., 1983,Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 2nd edition.,New York Oxford University Press. 1983Fawcett J 2005Contemporary Nursing Knowledge Analysis and Evaluation of Nursing Models and Theories, 2nd EditionBoston Davis Co 2005 ISBN 0-8036-1194-3Marks-Moran Rose 1996Reconstructing Nursing Beyond Art and ScienceLondon Balliere Tindall October, 1996Parker and Lawton 2003 Psychological contribution to the understanding of adverse events in health care Qual. Saf. Health Care, Dec 2003 12 453 457.Roper, Logan and Tierney (2000)Activities of Living model London Churchill Livingstone 2000 ISBN 0443063737Roy C 1991An Adaption model (Notes on the Nursing theories Vol 3)OUP London 1991Seale C, van der Geest S. 2003Good and bad death introduction.Soc Sci Med. 2003. 58 (5) 883885.Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001Methods in Medical EthicsGeorgetown Univeristy Press 2001 ISBN 0878408738The A-M, Hak T, Koeter G, Wal Gvd. 2000Collusion in doctor-patient communication about imminent death an ethnographic study.BMJ 2000 321 1376-1381Wadensten Carlsson 2003Nursing theory views on how to support the process of ageingJ. of Advanced Nursing Volume 42, Number 2, April 2003, pp. 118-124(7)Wilkerson, S. A., Loveland-Cherry, C. J. (1996).Johnsons behavioral system model. In J. J. Fitzpatrick A.L. Whall (Eds.), Conceptual models of nursing Analysis and application (3rd ed., pp. 89-109). Stamford, CT Appleton Lange. 1996Wright S, Sayre-Adams J. 2001consecrated space right relationship in health and healing not just what we do but who we are. In Rankin-Box D, ed. The nurses handbook of complementary therapies. 2nd ed.London Baillire Tindall, 2001.Yura H, Walsh M. 199 8The nursing process. Assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating. 5th edition. Norwalk, CT Appleton Lange, 1998.===============================================================9.5.06 PDG Word count