Pain Management: Palliative Care of Advanced Malignancy Essay

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Pain Management: Palliative Care of Advanced Malignancy Essay

The aim of palliative care is to enhance the quality of life of the patient and influence the course of the disease in the most positive sense. The care must be initiated as early as possible in the course of the disease in conjunction with other supportive therapies like chemotherapeutic, medical and surgical interventions. Palliative care adapts the philosophy of hospice care and interdisciplinary practice. Pain Management: Palliative Care of Advanced Malignancy Essay. It applies to all terminally ill patients irrespective of their diagnosis, race, religion, age, gender and culture (National Cancer Control Programme, 2005). Pain relief is the cornerstone of palliative care and enhances the spiritual value of care. Along with pain relief, other symptoms like nausea and vomiting, regional swelling, sleeplessness, gastritis, and constipation must be addressed (Johnson et al, 2006).

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Quality of life of the patient may be enhanced by encouraging the patient and allowing the patient to indulge in activities which are a source of enjoyment and relaxation for him or her like watching movies and listening to music, by making the patient feels that the patient is yet a much-wanted member in the family and by providing the patient time and space to spend family with her spouse, children, and grandchildren (National Cancer Control Programme, 2005). Pain Management: Palliative Care of Advanced Malignancy Essay. Education and training must also be delivered to caregivers and family members to increase the psychological and social dysfunctioning of the patient (Keefe et al, 2005).
One of the important aspects of providing palliative care is the involvement of the family members and friends in taking decisions pertaining to the patient (National Cancer Control Programme, 2005). Even the patient must be involved and this increases the sense of dignity and self-esteem of the patient. Proper communication and provision of appropriate information to both the patient and her family members before any decision is taken like starting a new intravenous line, changing pain medication or referring to a new consultant increases trust between the patient and the nurses. .

Pain is neither objective nor seen or felt by anybody other than the person that is experiencing it. Pain is subjective, therefore there is no way to distinguish whether or not someone is hurting and the only and best measurement of pain is that what the patient says it is. In settings such as end of life care, patients present with many different disease processes and ultimately are there because they have an average of six months to live. Along with this stage in their lives, palliative care patients can encounter a myriad of symptoms, which can result in these patients experiencing tremendous physical and psychologicalsuffering (Creedon & O’Regan, 2010, p. [ 257]). For patients requiring palliative care, pain is the most incapacitating of symptoms and in return unrelieved pain is the primary symptom that is feared most by these patients. So why has pain management not become the top priority when it comes to end of life care, considering this area is growing at an extraordinary rate as a result of an increasingly ageing population? Pain Management: Palliative Care of Advanced Malignancy Essay.
Management of pain is very important when it comes to palliative care patients, considering that 55-95% of this patient population requires analgesia for pain relief (Creedon & O’Regan, 2010, p. [ 257]). But what is considered pain management? And why does pain continue to be inadequately treated? According to the article on chronic non-cancer pain in older people: evidence for prescribing, in the past few decades significant improvements have been made to the management of pain in palliative care. However, it is universally acknowledged that pain on a global scale remains inadequately treated because of cultural, attitudinal, educational, legal, and systemic reasons (Creedon & O’Regan, 2010, p. …

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