It send chills up my spine, to think of what this doctor did to her patient after being involved every step of the way , for the seven years she had known the patient. The letter addressed to this particular doctor outlined how hurtful it was to the entire family, that the doctor needed a wake up call, to bring this to her attention and also her behavour towards her patient.
I hope with this in mind that the doctor sees this as an eye opener, and have the decency to reply to the letter, and apologize to the family about her behavior, and why it took so long to respond to the patient calls and test results.
The abandonment of patients by doctors seems to be a distinctive pattern, which must be addressed by hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices. A patient care is foremost, and must be treated in the way that it would bring peace of mind to all sides of the spectrum.
When doctors abandoned patients it is due to failure, which shows that they cannot care for them, so they leave them hanging in the balance, while their patients search for answers as to why the doctor walked away from treating their illness.
Doctors need to be educated when it comes to End Of Life Care, if not we would see more doctors walking away from patients when they have failed tremendously as the letter that was written to this particular doctor.
Doctors need to tell patient the truth, and let them know that they had done all they can,but still need to be connected to their patients if and when the go into a hospice for care at the end of life doing little things for the patient and responding to their needs will and should improve relationships.
Once a relationship is broken by a doctor word spreads, and the doctor would feel isolated, and patient along with relatives would not want to be associated with that doctor at any given time. A good doctor relationship with a patient is a must, and when the patient respect your advice that respect will be returned.
Patient also need to let their doctor know when they fail it is not their fault it is due to the disease, and that they appreciate all that they have done in the past, but the patient needs assurance that the doctor would not abandon them when they are needed.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Palliative Care At Home
Dying at Home: An Increasingly Important Trend
There ia s trend that is seen as more patients who are dying of cancer preferred dying at home with loved ones, but the families of those patients makes it hard on most palliative care givers because families would like them to do house chores instead of being the caregiver as outlined in their job description.
It is also imperative that Doctors, Hospitals, and Caregivers work in conjunction with each other in order that the dying patient be made comfortable as they begin the progress through the last stage in their life. If this trend continues with the rise of terminal patients dying at home , more palliative caregivers would be needed, and less hospital beds would be available in the future.
If doctors fail to provide care for their patients, especially home visits, then a rise in hospital beds would have to be increased.The lack of doctors refusing to be team players in palliative care would mean dying patients would have less access to medical treatment at home. Communication plays a significant role here, among doctors, patient, family members and palliative caregivers. Where I see the breakdown in communication is between the family, and palliative nurses where the roles are reversed. (palliative nurses are doing house work instead of the family)
Dying at home is an expectable right, since people are choosing to do so. If they are not enough palliative nurses to visit these patients the system would fail. The patient has choices to make together with the family, when the burden becomes too much to handle, and the decision yo move the dying patient to a hospital, hospice, or short term nursing home is the only choice they have.
Certain conditions must be reassess by the various health professionals that are involve with the dying patient, and family. Dying at home is very demanding, not only to the family, but the patient as well, the patient have to be comfortable, and family members have to be relatively fit to perform the many duties, and chores that come along, with the job of caring for the dying at home.
There ia s trend that is seen as more patients who are dying of cancer preferred dying at home with loved ones, but the families of those patients makes it hard on most palliative care givers because families would like them to do house chores instead of being the caregiver as outlined in their job description.
It is also imperative that Doctors, Hospitals, and Caregivers work in conjunction with each other in order that the dying patient be made comfortable as they begin the progress through the last stage in their life. If this trend continues with the rise of terminal patients dying at home , more palliative caregivers would be needed, and less hospital beds would be available in the future.
If doctors fail to provide care for their patients, especially home visits, then a rise in hospital beds would have to be increased.The lack of doctors refusing to be team players in palliative care would mean dying patients would have less access to medical treatment at home. Communication plays a significant role here, among doctors, patient, family members and palliative caregivers. Where I see the breakdown in communication is between the family, and palliative nurses where the roles are reversed. (palliative nurses are doing house work instead of the family)
Dying at home is an expectable right, since people are choosing to do so. If they are not enough palliative nurses to visit these patients the system would fail. The patient has choices to make together with the family, when the burden becomes too much to handle, and the decision yo move the dying patient to a hospital, hospice, or short term nursing home is the only choice they have.
Certain conditions must be reassess by the various health professionals that are involve with the dying patient, and family. Dying at home is very demanding, not only to the family, but the patient as well, the patient have to be comfortable, and family members have to be relatively fit to perform the many duties, and chores that come along, with the job of caring for the dying at home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)