Essay On Sharon And George About Introducing Palliative Care

Describe how you would prepare for a discussion with Sharon and George about introducing palliative care?

Talking about death and palliative care with the patient can be an uncomfortable experience, but it is essential and beneficial to communicate clearly and efficiently. In preparation for the discussion with Sharon and George, I would ensure all is arranged for the meeting such as location, time, reports, confirmed results and appropriate team members present and privacy is guaranteed (Bloomer, Tan & Lee 2010). In addition, preparing myself mentally as it can be personally difficult to talk about with a family and patient.

Describe how you would introduce and explain what the palliative care team can offer Sharon and George?

Prior to any information given, I will ensure effective general communication skills are used including, eye contact, mindful of the body language used, active listening and sitting close to Sharon and George to ensure they feel comfortable. I would first start with asking about their expectations

Describe the nurse’s role in a family meeting.

In palliative care family support is a vital factor, when caring for the patient. It is crucial to involve the family in multidisciplinary meetings, as “family meetings provide an opportunity to enhance quality of care provided to palliative care patients and their family carers” (Centre of Palliative Care 2009). The nurse’s role within a family meeting, “is simply to focus the attention of the team on the need for a family meeting”. Nurses communicate with the family on a daily basis, therefore, arranging a time, location, as well as explaining what’s involved, preparation, introducing the family at the meeting and raising vital questions the family has questioned prior to the meeting is part of the nurses role. This will allow an improvement in the credibility of information, resulting in family fulfilment and enhance their decision making (Gay et al.,