Pros And Cons Of Palliative Care

Working in a nursing home has opened my eyes that death is inevitable. As the near is impending, dying residents go through a lot of pain and this not only brings distress to the residents, it also brings distress to the family. There is no dignity in dying a painful death. As human beings, we strive to die on our own terms and peacefully. Natural law, which is rooted from Christian beliefs, might argue that suffering is good; however, as care ethics come into play, healthcare professionals strive to alleviate the suffering of their patients. I am a proponent of hospice/comfort care, one of the umbrellas of palliative care. Jahner (2015) stated, “palliative care is the fields of medicine that focuses on pain and symptom management, and support for patients …show more content…
Perrin & Kazanowski (2015) stated that to end the misconception of palliative care, we have to “provide education about and experience with palliative care. One way to end misinformation is with evidence” (p. 46). According to Zalonis & Slota (2014), “all hospice is palliative care, but not all palliative care is hospice” (p. 709). Although a person might be debilitated with illness, he/she has the right to have a quality of life. When it comes to life-threatening or end-of-life situations, patients have the right to have death with dignity, and be comfortable. Patient assessment is important in order for the healthcare professional to advocate for the patient. Families may object at first because of denial of their loved ones’ circumstances, but once they are provided with information, they might change their approach. As Jahner (2015) emphasized, “the overall goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life for the patients and their families” (p. 4), our aim as healthcare professionals is to provide comfort to the patient by managing their pain and