Date

10-2019

Department

School of Nursing

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Chair

Vickie Moore

Keywords

Palliative care, End Stage Renal Disease, Hospice, Palliative Screening Tool

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing

Abstract

Palliative care provides outstanding holistic nursing for the management of undesirable symptoms and suffering related to chronic illness disease processes such as end stage renal disease. When palliative care services are initiated early in course of a chronic illness, they improve the quality of care and life and reduce stress for patients and their families. While palliative care is slowly being recognized as the most effective means of improving quality of life and care in the management of chronic illness, most health care staff and providers are not aware of the full benefits of palliative care in the management of end stage renal disease patients on dialysis. The lack of knowledge and education of health care staff and providers has led to the underutilization of palliative care services in most health care institutions. Through the use of a palliative care screening tool for ESRD, qualified patients can be referred for palliative care in both community and inpatient settings regardless of age, culture, socioeconomic status, or disease stage. However, patients that have reached a late stage of the disease process and are determined to have less than six months of life may be referred or transitioned to hospice care instead of palliative care services. Keywords: palliative care, end stage renal disease, dialysis, hospice care, symptom management, quality of life, symptom management, quality of care, renal palliative care

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