Palliative care: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
===Key conditions=== | ===Key conditions=== | ||
*[[Prognostication]] - working out how long someone has to live. | |||
*[[Palliative analgesia|Pain control]] | *[[Palliative analgesia|Pain control]] | ||
*[[Respiratory symptoms|Respiratory problems]] | *[[Respiratory symptoms|Respiratory problems]] | ||
*[[Nausea and vomiting]] | *[[Nausea and vomiting]] | ||
*[[Incontinence]] | *[[Incontinence]] | ||
==="Mrs Jones, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."=== | ==="Mrs Jones, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."=== | ||
Revision as of 14:40, 20 December 2012
This area of medicine which deals with symptom control and is non-curative. Essentially, patients who are dying and lengthening life takes second place to making sure they are comfortable. It is hugely based on a multidisciplinary team approach. Some say "Palliative care is helping dying people to live". Or as Raj put it, "Palliative care is stopping people from dying in such a shitty way".
Key conditions
- Prognostication - working out how long someone has to live.
- Pain control
- Respiratory problems
- Nausea and vomiting
- Incontinence
"Mrs Jones, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
Learning to break bad news is a key part of palliative care. We don't think its really the thing to learn out of a book; get together with a mate, and try telling them seriously a few times "I'm afraid we have the test results back, and I'm afraid they show that you have Leukaemia." Use your brains, be sensitive and you'll learn a lot. You can find some more tips on this website.