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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 7, Issue 3 (Suppl)
J Palliat Care Med, an open access journal
ISSN: 2165-7386
Palliative Care 2017
June 21- 22, 2017
3
rd
International Conference on
June 21- 22, 2017 | Philadelphia, USA
Palliative Care & Hospice Nursing
J Palliat Care Med 2017, 7:3(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7386-C1-009
HONOURING THY SELF: DISENFRANCHISED GRIEFAND THE PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVER
Michelle Funk-Coltman
a
a
Thompson Rivers University, Canada
M
uch has beenwritten that highlights that fact that the profession of nursing is stressful and taxing both physically and emotionally
on nurses. Most recently, the field of end of life (EOL) and palliative care has been acknowledged as a stressful occupation and
that burnout, attrition, and a nurse’s personal involvement is unique to this particular field of health care (Huggard & Nichols 2001;
Lobb et al, 2010; Rollings, 2008). Caring for the nursing staff working within the field of EOL and palliative care has not kept pace
with the advances in self-care that is acknowledge for other health care professionals. According to Gerow et al, 2010, the impact of
death on a family and its members has been well documented throughout the literature including the grief response and process, yet
the grieving process and self-care of registered nurses during and following the death of a patient has not been researched extensively
as a result.
The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate identify gaps that exist in EOL and palliative nursing for registered nurses
in terms of self-care. Secondly, evidence will be presented in support of models that exist for registered nurses and policy makers to
implement self-care within their organizations and into the EOL or palliative care setting. Implications of the lack of consideration of
self-care in the profession will be discussed throughout the paper. Additionally, the concept of disenfranchised grief will be deliberated
in terms of how this phenomenon has an additional negative affect and its consequences for health care professionals.
SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE/SYMPTOMMEASUREMENT OVER TWO DECADES
Waldron D
a
and
Mannion E
a
a
Galway Regional Hospitals, Ireland
T
he Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL) is a phenonomenological approach to the measurement
of quality of life (QoL), in which the terms- of-reference are determined by the individual. Little is known about the impact of
symptoms on patients' quality of life. The degree to which the symptoms are actually bothersome to the patient is a missing area in
symptom assessments. Waldron et al, demonstrated that symptom 'bother' is a separate entity from both symptom frequency and
intensity. Quality of life is a dynamic construct. Over the course of time, areas of life meaningful to the patient to shift through a
process of adaptation.There appears to a process of psychological adaptation that enables patients cope and maintain good quality
of life, even in the face of adversity. This is a concept known as ‘intra subject construct dynamism’ or ‘response shift’. Using an
outcome measure as a clinical tool, especially in the area of quality of life (QoL) is uncommon. We hypothesized that individual QoL
information may help improve patient’s QoL outcome over time when shared with the multidisciplinary team.
Results:
Results of seven Higher Theses are explored to reflect on all above views with both published and presented, Nationally and
Internationally papers reviewed.
Conclusion:
Subjective QoL can be measured in Advanced Cancer patients and incorporation of Symptoms, Symptom Bother/
Symptom interference with QoL and Response Shift as well as ‘Using the Outcome as a Clinical tool’ can really help this very
vulnerable patient group.