This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Approaching treatment at end-of-life
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
NEW ORLEANS – Understanding the distinct difference between palliative sedation and hastened death is important for caregivers to understand. Clinical, ethical and legal issues swirl if a patient mentions either of these terms.
At the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress meeting this weekend, this topic was discussed in great detail. The conversation specifically centered on patients with advanced cancer who are requesting hastened death.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I never want to get comfortable with it. Because it’s still difficult, but knowing and having clarity that I’m helping for pain and symptom management helps,” said Constance Dahlin, ANP-BC, FAAN, palliative care nurse practitioner in Boston. “This session is for people to think about the issues and think about what policies exist in their institutions. If they don’t have a policy, what is the best policy for palliative sedation? [Patients need to know] that they resources so they don’t ever have to be in those situations alone.”
Palliative care is an approach meant to provide relief for patients suffering from advanced chronic or life-threatening illnesses and offer the best quality of life possible.
Simply in the diagnosis of cancer, there is incredible existential stress and suffering. Healthcare professionals and nurses play a large role in ameliorating that suffering. By being willing to engage in conversation about patient’s fears and wishes, there is the opportunity to become more proactive rather than reactive to treatment.
Given the uniqueness of each palliative care case, the 75-minute session gave attendees an open forum to learn the difference between palliative sedation and hastened death, as well as to discuss different approaches in various situations.
Disclosure: Constance Dahlin reports no relevant financial disclosures.