Death With Dignity
Death has never been regarded as a pleasant experience especially if the person in question is terminally ill and dependent on others for fulfilling his basic needs. The concept of Palliative care aims to give maximum comfort and happiness to an ailing patient who is distraught by the thought of leaving this world in a few days time. It's tough to identify the right time to begin hospice or palliative care, but often, the patient feels this him/herself very well.
Speaking about the ethics of the treatment there has been a number of controversies regarding its utility and acceptability.
Many people around USA have been protesting against forcefully pushing a patient into Palliative care. This is something which they say is equivalent to euthanasia. However practitioners of Palliative care argue that Palliative care is very different from euthanasia and believes in "death with dignity."
The patient's wishes, and desires in respect to his treatment is fully considered before taking any action.
Palliative care givers mainly aims at creating an environment for the patient where he can spend the last days of his life happily in the company of his friends and family rather than being surrounded by unknown faces experiencing fanatic pain in trying to squeeze out a few extra hours of biological life.
most patients suffering from terminally diseases suffers from a number of ailments and only a Palliative care giver can administer proper medicine and care to relive a patient
the various symptoms that a Palliative care giver generally ahs to deal with are cough and difficult breathing, under nutrition or anemia, mouth or throat problems, fever, skin rashes, fatigue, diarrhea, anxiety, nightmares, and psychosis depression.
People generally tend to feel neglected and enters the repentant mood in their death beds .it is the duty of the care giver to talk to him and reduce these feelings of regret or repentance. Telling him that he will be loved and remembered after his death will help him accept death more easily. Palliative care givers can offer him practical solutions to his emotional needs by helping him write a will or sort out some old issues with people he holds close to his heart.
Terminally ill patients generally wants to speak and be heard a t the end of the day. Palliative care givers should have great compassion and hear them out with sympathy.
As far as medical treatments are concerned they should avoid unnecessary medication and only give medicines to reduce pain and other irritating body symptoms like skin rashes, etc. Administering such kind of care can be very taxing on the physical and emotional health of the care giver and they are advice to build their own support group so that they can recover from the pain of watching a person succumbing to death in front of their very eyes. Emotional pressures often lead many Palliative care givers into a kind of numbness or can create a dependence on alcohol or drugs. In such situations they should try to take help of a spiritual caregiver who can assure them about their role as a care giver and help them in accepting the supreme will of God.