Full Description
The Hospice Companion is a guide to the processes of care during the intensive, interpersonal experiences of hospice work. This resource highlights the mission and values of modern-day hospice through the individual and combined efforts of the field's most valuable asset, the hospice professional. This easy-to-navigate clinical decision support tool for caregivers of those with life-limiting illnesses allows for personal and professional growth and a deeplygratifying sense of accomplishment as you proceed in the all-important work of caring for the dying. The third edition of The Hospice Companion features a thoroughly current guide to clinical processes and symptom management, providing hospice professionals with a concise summary of changes that haveinfluenced clinical practice over the last several years. Moreover, feedback from hospice social workers has been incorporated into the section on personal, social, and environmental processes and guidance on integrative and non-pharmacologic interventions have been added.
Contents
1. General ProcessesPalliative Care at the End of Life: Blending Structure and FunctionThe Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) Documentation 2. Personal, Social, and Environmental ProcessesAbuse in the Home Advance Care Planning and Directives for Health-care Interventions Changes in Body Image and Loss of Independence Changes in Family Dynamics Completing Worldly Business and Life Closure Controlled Substances: Misuse and Abuse Cultural Differences: Respect, Understanding, and Adapting Care Denial Grief Reactions Living Environment, Finances, and Support Systems Basic Home Safety Suicide: Risk, Prevention, and Coping If It Happens 3. Clinical Processes and Symptom ManagementAir Hunger (Dyspnea) Agitation and Anxiety Anorexia and Cachexia Belching and Burping (Eructation) Bleeding, Draining, and Malodorous Lesions Confusion/Delirium Constipation Coughing Depression Diarrhea and Anorectal Problems Dysphagia and Oropharyngeal Problems Edema: Peripheral Edema, Ascites, and Lymphedema Fatigue, Weakness (Aesthenia), and Excessive Sedation Fever and Diaphoresis Hiccups Imminent Death Insomnia and Nocturnal Restlessness Nausea and VomitingPainPruritus Seizures Skeletal Muscle and Bladder Spasms Skin Breakdown: Prevention and Treatment Urinary ProblemsXerostomia (Dry Mouth) 4. AppendicesAppendix 1: Palliative Radiation Therapy in End-of-Life Care: Evidence-Based Utilization Appendix 2: Principles of PharmacotherapyAppendix 3: Ketamine Protocol Appendix 4: Clinical/Functional Assessment and Staging Appendix 5: Anticoagulation
