Daniel
J. Williams
Palliative
care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses, and it
focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of that
illness. The ultimate goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life
for the patient and their family.
And
while palliative care is a great concept, it is shocking how many long term
care facility and nursing home managers and employees have little to no
knowledge of how to administer such care. A recent study found that over 20% of
long-term care facility managers had little to no palliative care experience.
However,
43% of those surveyed did have knowledge of palliative care. That knowledge
translated into more compassionate care and less “aggressive interventions,”
such as hastily inserting a feeding tube, injections, applying restraints, or
an emergency room or hospital trip.
Reading
the findings highlights the importance of not only planning ahead for long term
care, but also the issues that arise from having a loved one in a long term care
facility.
Making
sure that you know the risks and benefits of a placement are important. Being
present to ensure that proper care is being administered is also a part of the process.
The fact that a nursing home administrator and staff are not properly trained
on how to administer care to a patient, either end-of-life care or palliative
care, or even day to day needs, is not the fault of the patient. Nor should
they have to suffer because of inadequate training, and improper use of medical
devices and restraints.
However,
many of these facilities are improperly treating residents, unnecessarily
administering medical treatment to them, and in some cases people are dying who
should not be, simply because of a lack of training, understanding, and
appropriate action.
If you
are looking into putting a loved one into a nursing home or long term care
facility, or if you have a family member already in one, be sure to ask the
management about their knowledge of palliative care and how they implement it
for their patients.
As a
former elder abuse prosecutor with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, I now
work in the civil courts enforcing the laws to compensate victims for this very
type of problem. If a loved one is the victim of abuse or neglect, or if they are
not getting the proper care that they need, Fausone Bohn, LLP is ready to
assist in getting compensation.
Read
more on this issue in Nursing Times: http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/specialisms/end-of-life-and-palliative-care/palliative-care-in-nursing-homes-linked-to-managers-knowledge/5083564.article
Contact the elder abuse attorneys at
Fausone Bohn, LLP today at (248) 468-4536, or online at www.fb-firm.com.
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