a) Discusses the importance of providing age-appropriate care reflecting a palliative approach for a person and their family.
Children suffering from oncological diseases of the IV stage need special care, combining medical, psychological, and social assistance. Often, after treatment for some reason are unsuccessful, children remain alone with their problem. Parents of such children also often do not know how to improve the quality of their life, how to help them cope with fears, and alleviate the pain. Age appropriate care reflecting a palliative approach for such children has a positive impact on various aspects of the life of the children and their loved ones.
Age appropriate care reflecting a palliative approach is important for the children and their families because it is achieved through the alleviation and prevention of suffering, which implies early detection, assessment, and relief of pain and other painful symptoms, as well as the provision of psychological, social, and spiritual assistance. It is to ensure the best possible quality of life for the children. The importance of palliative care is not in the treatment of the underlying disease for such children and their family members but in the removal of symptoms that worsen their quality of life. This approach, apart from the medical aspect, includes psychological, social, cultural and, if necessary, spiritual assistance. It is an approach that improves the quality of life of children suffering from oncological diseases and members of their families who have faced the problem of a fatal disease, by preventing and alleviating suffering through early detection and accurate assessment of interventions (with pain syndrome and other disorders of life), and also providing psychosocial and moral support. It is an important part of public health, which is aimed at alleviating the suffering of these children, preserving their dignity, the identification of its needs and the maintenance of the quality of life in the final period including support for families and sick children.
b) Illustrate your understanding of nursing care using a palliative approach when applied to your chosen life span category.
The role of the nurse in the provision of palliative care at home” is due to the following factors: an increase in the number of disabled children with severe, disease-limiting diseases in which premature death is imminent; – the multiplicity of palliative care for children, when there is a need to combine medical, psychological and social assistance to improve the quality of life of the child and his family members; – the need to organize outreach activities and promote volunteerism in this direction; – the great physical and emotional stresses that characterize the work of the nurse in the palliative ward, the implementation of a variety of nursing manipulations. In the process of home care, it is important to remember not only the basic needs of a disabled child in drinking, eating, sleeping, etc., but also the needs of a particular patient – his habits, interests, the rhythm of his life before the onset of the disease. The nurse of the palliative department as a person, socially and psychologically, is not limited to narrow medical and preventive activities but participates in solving complex problems of the child and his family. Adoption of such decisions requires the nurse to exert a high level of moral strength, to mobilize experience and knowledge, a deep understanding of the degree of responsibility to the patient, and the staff of the institution where she works. Nurse’s role is aimed at meeting the patient’s physical, mental, spiritual, and social needs and supporting close ones. The purpose of this nursing support is to achieve the highest possible quality of life for the patient.
