Palliative Care and End-of-Life Nursing

Flashcards covering key definitions, pharmacological interventions, physical changes, and clinical nursing procedures in palliative and end-of-life care.

Palliative Care

A specialized form of medical care designed for people with serious illnesses, aimed at improving quality of life by providing relief from symptoms, pain, and stress.

Curative Treatment

Active medical intervention focused on curing and eliminating an illness rather than solely managing its symptoms.

Multiple Myeloma

A form of blood cancer that cannot be cured, though treatments can place the patient into remission before it eventually returns.

Extubation

The clinical removal of an endotracheal tube to discontinue a patient's connection to a mechanical ventilator.

Physician-Assisted Suicide

A process where a physician prescribes medication that a patient self-administers at home to intentionally end their life.

Noisy Respirations

A sound produced during the dying process (often called the death rattle) caused by secretions pooled and trapped in the throat.

Apnea

The temporary or prolonged suspension of breathing, commonly seen in the hours to minutes before death.

Scopolamine Patch

A transdermal patch used to dry up respiratory secretions, taking at least two hours to start working and up to a day to achieve full effect.

Atropine Drops

Sublingual drops administered to actively dying patients to reduce and dry up excessive respiratory secretions.

Mottling

A physiological circulatory change occurring near death characterized by cooled temperatures and discoloration in the extremities.

Pronouncement of Death

The formal clinical declaration of a patient's death, which registered nurses can perform under specific institutional policies for DNR patients.

Organ Procurement Notification

A mandatory requirement to report every hospital death to the procurement organization, whose trained specialists initiate donation discussions rather than the bedside nurse.

Repositioning Protocol

The practice of turning and adjusting an immobile patient's posture at least every two hours to maintain comfort and prevent tissue soreness.

Expired

The acceptable technical medical term used in postmortem documentation to state that a patient has died, rather than non-specific phrasing like 'passed away.'