Comfort Care

I am not sure this is the forum for this, but how do you view or your hospital view comfort care?

To me it is do what you can to make them comfortable, I had a charge nurse tell me I should be checking my patients vitals every shift and I disagreed.

What is your take?

On the floor I worked on as a tech, when pts were on comfort care, we didn't check vitals. No vitals, fingerstick blood sugars, tele monitoring, lab draws, etc. Just turn & reposition for comfort, medicate for pain, etc. In fact, a sign usually goes at the beside that says "No vitals, please."

In my view, comfort care is just that. There is no need in my mind to be checking blood pressures, or doing tele monitoring, etc. Let the patient die in dignity & as comfortable as possible. As a tech, I always did frequent checks when our floor has a comfort care patient...just to take the time to hold their hand.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in LTC.

What difference is the vital signs gonna make. Ugh...many a fight over this one. I normally get an order to DC vitals

Nope... No vital signs, blood sugar checks, blood draws, etc. Medications only for comfort - pain, secretions, difficulty breathing, anxiety. Oxygen for comfort. Turning for comfort. Food/ice chips if pt wants/able. We order up a food cart for the family.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in LTC.

What difference is the vital signs gonna make. Ugh...many a fight over this one. I normally get an order to DC vitals

Agreed. Why take vitals if you aren't going to treat abnormal vitals, etc.

no vitals/fs either where I work...I did have a md as why I was given a pt nc o2 one time......and I also have had some nurses ask Why are you given O2 to a comfort care only pt.

we do vitals once a shift where i work on comfort care patients.....i also suction them when they need it ....to be comfortable. vitals here are seen as a way for the family to understand the progression to the end.

See we do vitals once per shift...just perhaps more for monitoring to ensure that pt is stable.....also the whole no invasive procedures, turning, secretion help, airbeds, etc...

no vitals/fs either where I work...I did have a md as why I was given a pt nc o2 one time......and I also have had some nurses ask Why are you given O2 to a comfort care only pt.

because air hunger/sob is extremely distressing.

o2 provides these pts with the comfort.

leslie

oh yes, a fan works wonders!!

it's right up there with the morphine, and even more valuable than o2...

esp when they're wearing nasal cannulas but are mouth breathers.

leslie