Pallative Care, HELP on questions

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

hello everyone! i have some questions. i have a job interview in a pallative care position in the hospital system i work for. i know that most of the time, there are no tubes (or minimal) and its more for comfort to either pass on or to go home or elsewhere to pass on. and i know that every area of nsg has its own rewards personally. can you guys help me out? teach me more of why this would appeal to me more? i feel i would feel great about helping ppl in that certain time of need, including families. but going from a surg floor and being busy most of time to that seems like it may be a bit difficult for me. i am trying to make a list of pro's and con's i guess.

help?

any comments and help is appericated!

-h-rn

[marachne]

Palliative care is a much looser term than hospice, and the approach can vary quite a bit.

To palliate means to mitigate or ease. It is about managing symptoms and, usually, examining goals and values so that choices are made in alignment with one's personhood, not because you are feeling pressure from others.

So a person who is receiving palliative care may also be receiving very aggressive treatment -- they are not mutually exclusive -- or they could be not ready, or not yet eligible for hospice but want to start changing their goals of care...but they may still be receiving chemo, radiation, transfusions, IV ABX, tube feedings (especially if they have had some kind of head & neck cancer and have lost the ability to swallow, either temporarily during tx or permanently)

Most of the palliative care that I am familiar with is a consultant service that works with the main providers -- these teams usually have a physician and/or NP, possibly chaplain, possibly SW, possibly psychologist (rarely).

Are you talking about a palliative care unit? Before the interview, I would suggest visiting the unit, talking to nurses that work there, looking at the job description, look at any information the hospital provides to patients about their palliative care -- you need a better idea of who they are and what they do before you can make an informed decision.

[leslie :-D]

thank you, marachne.

palliative care should not be used interchangably with hospice care.

i work in a picu (palliative icu) for those w/intractable and/or escalating symptoms.

although i work in a hospice and palliative care facility, the units are clearly separate.

the palliative care unit has many pts who continue to receive treatment for their disease while comfort remains the priority over cure.

op, do not hesitate to ask questions rather than assume a certain level of care.

if it is true palliative care, you will see a lot of seemingly aggressive txs, even when it seems futile.

this concept is still new and isn't as commonplace as it should be...

but for this hospital to even have a palliative unit, shows they are a progressive facility.

i personally would be asking a whole lot of questions...

and i hope it's everything you would like it to be.

leslie

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

So i did the interview, this particular position was not what i wanted. it included that i would have to "have something in my back pocket" to work on all the time. IE: specialty something= research; writing articles; confrences; developing procedures or policies; ect... i dont mind confrences and stuff, but i am so much more into hands on than that. i dont want to go that way with my career at this point. i enjoy like heck what i am doing, and this isnt as much of pt and family care as i thought.

Thanks to you guys for helping and explaining! you never know until you try and see for yourself.

-H-RN