3^rd International Conference on Palliative Care and Hospice Nursing June 21-22, 2017 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

End-of-life (EOL) care refers to comprehensive care for a life-limiting illness that meets the patient’s medical, physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs. Hospice care is a service delivery system that emphasizes symptom management without life-prolonging treatment, and is intended to enhance the quality of life for both patients with a limited life expectancy and their families.

Good management of symptoms in the terminal phase is one of the main concerns of patients and their families. The physical comfort of dying patients requires thorough assessment, excellent nursing care and careful prescribing. Some patients may experience uncontrolled and distressing symptoms at the end of life.

Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine concentrates on improving the quality of life. By giving cancer diagnosis and treatment, it is useful for patients to experience worrisome physical symptoms and/or psychological distress from their disease and the cancer treatment itself.

Occupational therapy plays a significant role on palliative and hospice care. Occupational therapy practitioners consider both the physical and psychosocial/behavioural health needs of the patient, concentrating on what is most important to him or her to fulfil, support systems and the available resources and the environments in which the patient wants and is able to participate.

Spirituality can be described as that which gives meaning to life.  It refers to the universal human need for love, hope, relatedness, value, and dignity.  Spirituality may or may not involve religious beliefs and practices. Learning that you or a loved one has a terminal illness presents many challenges.  It can also present opportunities for life review, realized potential, celebration of accomplishments, connection with loved ones, and reconciliation.

Patients with serious or life-threatening illness are likely to find themselves in an emergency department at some point along their trajectory of illness, and they should expect to receive high-quality palliative care in that setting. In the last five years, emergency medicine has increasingly taken a central role in the early implementation of palliative care. Widespread integration of palliative care into the day-to-day practice of emergency medicine, however, is often jeopardized by the demands of many competing priorities.

The goal of palliative care is to help them achieve the best possible quality of life through relief of suffering, control of symptoms, and restoration of functional capacity, while remaining sensitive to personal, cultural and religious values, believes and practices”. It is important that these nurses are trained in end of life treatment, psychological support, symptom management and enhancing the quality of life for their patients and the patient's families.

Pediatric palliative care is care designed to meet the unique and special needs of children living with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, severe brain problems, complications from prematurity and birth defects and rare disorders, among other conditions.

Palliative care is any treatment that focuses on preventing and managing the symptoms of cancer and side effects of treatment. It also provides comprehensive support to people living with cancer and their families. Any person, regardless of age or type and stage of cancer, may receive palliative care.

When a mentally competent adult, terminally ill, making the choice of their own free will and after meeting strict legal safeguards, takes prescribed medication which will end their life is considered as assisted dying.

Trauma remains a principal cause of mortality and morbidity. The aim of Palliative care is to alleviate suffering through expert pain and symptom management, as well as assistance with decision making. The integration of palliative and trauma care can assist and support patients and families through stressful, often life-changing times, regardless of the final outcome.

Geriatrics is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician or geriatric physician, a physician who specializes in the care of elderly people. Rather, this decision is determined by the individual patient's needs, and the availability of a specialist.

Heart Disease identifies the need for patients with heart failure to have access to palliative care services for on-going support and advice; and for Renal Services goes further, listing as a quality requirement for patients near the end of life to have ‘a jointly agreed palliative care plan, built around their individual needs and preferences’.

Palliative care can address a broad range of issues, integrating an individual’s specific needs into care. The physical and emotional effects of cancer and its treatment may be very different from person to person. For example, differences in age, cultural background, or support systems may result in very different palliative care needs.