End of Life Care

End of life care is an essential part of our roles as health care professionals especially when working in any acute care setting where the patient population is of high acuity.  I have learned a lot about my own beliefs in end of life situations throughout my clinical experience.  The hospital is a very intimidating and scary place to be in for both the patient and the family members.  Personally, I have come to realize I would not want to be in a situation where I spend the end of my life in a hospital bed hooked up to tubes and confined to four walls. My family and I have discussed topics such as end of life before and for the most part agree with wanting to live a happy life rather than the length in which it is lived.  Both my grandparents and my parents have a will and legal documents in case of medical emergencies.  I have yet to fill out any paperwork for myself but I plan to in the near future.  I believe it is never to early to discuss the topic and work on those legal documents regardless of what they may be individually and with family members.

Palliative care is such a powerful aspect of healthcare that I feel gets neglected at times due to the stigma individuals correlate it with.  I love that palliative care takes a holistic approach to patient care that is so vital in being a patient advocate.  Patient advocate is the key word in that last sentence.  whether it is for medication regimens, dressing changes, dietary, or end of life care; it is our job as nurses to advocate for exactly what the patients wishes are even if we disagree. It is also our jobs to educate our patients and our family members about any questions they may have about end of life care and connecting them with proper resources.