What is palliative care?
In the patient and family who encounter the problems arising from the life-threatening disease; It is an approach that aims to improve quality of life and includes practices for the prevention and alleviation of pain and other problems, through early diagnosis and impeccable assessment, and the fulfillment of physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs.
Purpose in palliative care
Provides relief from pain and other bothersome symptoms
Integrates psychosocial and spiritual aspects of patient care into physical care
Provides support to the relatives of patients whose general condition is poor and incurable (cancer patients, advanced bedridden immobile patients) in coping with their own grief process during the disease process, care and afterwards.
It improves the quality of life and can also positively affect the disease process.
In the early stages of the disease process; It can be used in conjunction with treatments aimed at prolonging life, such as KT and RT; enables better understanding and management of clinical complications.
Palliative care patient admission
Patients admitted to the palliative care center cannot be accepted unaccompanied. During the hospitalization of the patient, trainings including patient care will be given. Our palliative care center has 22 beds. Patients whose palliative care needs are determined by our doctors are admitted to the unit by obtaining their written consent.
Terminal stage cancer patients.
Cancer patients with chronic pain, even if they are not in the terminal phase.
Patients with nutritional deficiencies.
COPD patients without acute problems using NIV at home or hospital.
Neurological diseases (dementia, post resuscitation and chronic care patients due to CVO).
Care patients with ALS, MS, parkinson et al neuromuscular disease.
Caring patients with or without conscious quadriplegic tracheostomy (patients with simple clinical needs, without this type of acute complicated infection).
Patients whose protein energy intake is malnourished for various reasons.
Patients whose tracheostomy or PEG will be changed or closed.
Patients with pressure sores.
Method in palliative care
Palliative care refers only to the reduction or elimination of symptoms, without investigating the source of the disturbing symptoms after obtaining information from the patient and performing a physical examination, or without treating the cause of these symptoms. For example, a palliative care team tries to relieve symptoms like shortness of breath and pain when breathing in the same way, whether they are caused by lung cancer, pneumonia, angina, or another illness. Asking the patient what he or she is feeling and doing a physical examination will almost always provide enough information to relieve symptoms, and there is no need for a chest x-ray or other tests. Because, if the patient is being treated for this disease, the only thing expected from palliative care is the elimination of distressing symptoms; If it is known that the disease that caused these symptoms is no longer possible for the patient in question, the only thing expected from the palliative care team is the elimination of the symptoms in the same way.