Palliative Care Nursing Exam Questions And Answe rs Palliative care - ✔✔ An approach that improves quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life threatening illness through prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems Components of Palliative Care - ✔✔ - Effective symptom management - Effective communication - Psychological, social and spiritual support - Rehabilitation - Person centered care - Coordination of services - EOL ca re - Support in bereavement Difference between Palliative care and hospice care - ✔✔ - Both provide comfort - Palliative care is symptom focused for patients with a serious illness no matter diagnosis or prognosis - Hospice is a subset of palliative care for patients at EOL with a prognosis of less than 6 months Pain - ✔✔ an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage - Subjective acute vs chronic pain - ✔✔ Acute - less than 6 months, acts as a warning to th e body to seek help Chronic - more than 6 months, can exist without a clear reason Total Pain - ✔✔ Physical, psychological, social, and spiritual components of a person's experience of pain. Pain assessment address - ✔✔ - Disease status and treatment - Pain severity and experience - Current and previous management - Pain meaning - Psychological status - Cognitive function - Physical examination - Risk factors for poorly controlled pain - Patient and family preferences - Reassess whenever there is a change in pain or a new pain Barriers to effective pain relief - ✔✔ - Complex health conditions - Addiction to medication - Ageing - Fear that pain may be worsening disease - Fear of adverse effects - Communication difficulti es - Ethical restrictions - Lack of pain assessment skills - Uncertainty about the role of opioid treatment - Overestimation of risk of addiction - Insufficient knowledge of opioid treatment