Introduction to palliative care
What is palliative care? In this chapter, we'll break down common misconceptions and address ethical considerations to determine which patients are ideal candidates for palliation.
- Introduction to palliative care intro
- Defining palliative care
- Addressing common misconceptions
- Discussing the benefits of palliative care
- Identifying candidates for palliative care
- Addressing access to care and patient refusal
- Clarifying ethical aspects of palliative care
- Introduction to palliative care quiz
Palliative care for special populations
This chapter focuses on assessing disease trajectory in patients with chronic or advanced illness and neurological conditions in order to determine timing and treatment goals of palliative care.
- Palliative care for special populations intro
- Creating individual treatment plans
- Caring for patients with cancer
- Caring for patients with organ failure
- Caring for patients with dementia
- Caring for older patients
- Caring for patients with neurocritical illness
- Caring for patients in the LGBTQ+ community
- Palliative care for special populations quiz
Shared decision-making and advance care planning
How do you know if your patient has decision-making capacity? Is a DNR necessary? In this chapter, we discuss determining goals of care and planning for the future.
- Shared decision-making and advance care planning intro
- Exploring shared decision-making
- Assessing decision-making capacity
- Discussing outpatient care goals
- Creating inpatient care goals
- Documenting goals of care
- Witholding or withdrawing treatments
- Shared decision-making and advance care planning quiz
Bedside manner and communication
This chapter addresses how to handle tough situations, such as delivering bad news, addressing conflict, and how to best connect with your patient under a variety of circumstances.
- Bedside manner and communication intro
- Addressing communication basics
- Connecting with your patients
- Delivering bad news
- Communicating remotely
- Addressing conflict
- Implementing family conferences
- Bedside manner and communication quiz
Symptom management
Symptom management can greatly increase a patient's quality of life. This chapter discusses pain control as well as alleviation of other common symptoms in palliative patients.
- Symptom management intro
- Evaluating pain and other symptoms
- Treating pain with opioids
- Treating pain with non-opioids
- Managing dyspnea
- Managing nausea and vomiting
- Managing constipation
- Managing delirium and agitation
- Managing depression and anxiety
- Symptom management quiz
End-of-life considerations
This chapter shares how to recognize end-of-life signs, how to administer palliative sedation and other comfort measures, and how to proceed once the patient is deceased.
- End-of-life considerations intro
- Recognizing when a patient is in their final days and hours
- Using pharmacologic interventions
- Using nonpharmacologic interventions
- Deprescribing futile medications
- Planning and preparing palliative sedation
- Preparing to die at home
- Caring for the deceased
- Communicating death
- End-of-life considerations quiz
- Palliative Care Essentials outro