[SOLVED] Palliative Care at End of Life

Module 8 Case Study(s): Palliative Care at End of Life
Patient Profile
B.B., a 79-year-old woman, is brought to the emergency department by an ambulance.
B.B. is reporting shortness of breath and feeling hot and sweaty.
She was diagnosed with stage IV cervical cancer 2 months ago and decided not to have any treatment.
Her husband died 1 year ago, and she has been living alone since that time.
In the 2 months since her diagnosis, she has been cleaning out her house,
donating things to charity, and giving her daughters family photo albums and jewelry.
Her daughters have continued trying to get her to have chemotherapy, but B.B. refuses.
They would check B.B. every morning and night and said that she had been getting weaker in the past week.
Today they found B.B. lying in bed, short of breath and diaphoretic, and called an ambulance.
Subjective Data
States she can’t catch her breath
States she wants to go home and says, “I don’t want to die in the hospital”
Daughters appear upset and angry and tell their mother that she needs to be in the hospital to get better
Has a history of hypertension and osteoarthritis
Objective Data
Blood pressure 100/60, pulse 96, respirations 28, temperature 101.4°F
5’4”, 100 lb, BMI 17.1 kg/m2
Oxygen saturation 88% on room air
Labored respirations
Crackles in bilateral bases of lungs
Answer each of the questions below. Each short-answer case study will be a minimum of 250 words. Include any references used to research your answer in APA format, with proper citations and references. Please number your answers.
From the data provided, which stage of grieving is B.B. in?
Patients and families often struggle with many decisions during terminal illness.
What are some decisions that patients can make about their end-of-life wishes?
What legal documents are available to guide B.B.’s daughters in making decisions
about B.B.’s care should she become unable to make her own decisions?
What are some options available to B.B. so that she can be comfortable and able to die at home?
What are the criteria for admittance to a hospice program?
As the time of death nears for B.B., what physical manifestations should B.B.’s daughters
be told to expect as normal signs of approaching death?
Providing care for patients and families at the end of life can be both rewarding and challenging.
It is important for you to be aware of how grief affects you personally and to alleviate your stress.
What are some interventions that can help you alleviate your stress from caring for patients at the end of life? Palliative Care at End of Life