Comfort is one of the most important aspects of hospice care. When a patient is comfortable, they’re more able to live a better quality of life. And at Ardent Hospice & Palliative Care, that’s our goal—we want our patients to live their life to the fullest and enjoy every last moment they have with their loved ones.
Comfort is one of the best gifts we can give to our patients; here are seven ways we’re able to do so.
- Focusing on ALL Areas of Comfort
As we work to provide comfort to our patients, we look at all the different aspects of their health. Our nurses, spiritual counselor, and social worker come together to manage our patients’ comfort on a physical, spiritual, and emotional plane.
Physical
Physically speaking, comfort means managing a patient’s pain levels. After getting to know a patient, we create a pain management plan that takes into account the pain they’re experiencing and how they respond to that pain.
For some patients, providing physical comfort may also mean helping to regulate their breathing by supplying oxygen, so they never have to feel like they’re gasping for air.
Emotional
Throughout a patient’s hospice journey, our team is always analyzing how a patient is doing emotionally. We help them work through their emotional frustrations, concerns, and fears, and try to help them find peace in their situation. Sometimes, one of our nurses may speak with the patient to give them a more complete understanding of their diagnosis and what they can expect. Other times, our social worker may have a meeting with the family to address their emotional wellbeing. Whenever possible, our social worker will also work with the patient and family to alleviate any financial burden and make sure there’s a plan in place for future arrangements.
Spiritual
Our spiritual counselor can meet with a patient and their family to talk through their spiritual beliefs. We’ll never push a religion or belief on a patient or family; our goal is simply to help them come to place of peace with how they’re feeling spiritually and give them comfort in their life decisions.
- Providing Immediate Pain Management and Emotional Support
The majority of our patients are feeling some sort of discomfort when they receive their diagnosis. Accepting hospice alone is such an uncomfortable situation for the patient and their family. Talking them through that in the beginning—addressing their concerns and fears—can
bring about a comfort with the whole situation entirely. As soon as they come onto hospice, we’re able to address their pain and provide that physical relief as well.
- Understanding the Patient’s Wishes
By taking the time to understand a patient’s wishes and meet their needs, we’re providing comfort in the fact they know we care and they can trust us. We also connect with the family to talk about any last wishes they or their loved one may have for their time together. These conversations help us get down to what’s going to make this patient have the best experience with hospice care and help them live their last days to the fullest.
- Offering a Wide Variety of Comfort Techniques
We understand that every patient is unique and has his or her own wishes or needs. Not everyone in our care will want, or be responsive to, certain pain medications, for instance. That’s why our nurses, doctor, and medical director work closely together to determine the best pain management techniques for each patient. They prepare a plan based on what is going to comfort them best, given their diagnosis and their overall picture. The plan often includes medication, but we may also introduce other comfort techniques like aromatherapy or music therapy to bring the patient relief.
- Creating a Comfort Kit
For most patients, we are able to create a Comfort Kit that we can leave with their families. It typically contains medication, which the family is educated on how to administer in the event of an emergency. Of course, we always urge the family to give us a call as soon as they notice a change in the state of their loved one, but we find that they have a sense of comfort in knowing they’re able to help the patient in the meantime, until our nurse can assess the situation.
- Providing Companionship Through Volunteers
Our patients who don’t have loved ones nearby really benefit from the companionship of volunteers. It’s comforting for these patients to have someone there to talk to or just be near as they’re going through this journey.
- Setting Patients’ Expectations
When a patient comes onto our service, we give them and their family a book about what they may experience during their final days. It sets their expectations and alleviates some of the fears they have coming into hospice care. Many families actually tell us how thankful they are for this resource because it helped them understand what was happening to their loved one as it was happening.
From the beginning of the hospice journey to the end, your loved one’s comfort is our number one priority at Ardent Hospice & Palliative Care. To find out more about our services, please contact us by visiting Ardent Hospice & Palliative Care online or calling (559) 408-5945.
Share +