Synopsis:
This video tape includes a review and discussion of: principles of palliative or end of life care; pain assessment and treatment in the terminally ill patient; opioid pharmacology; ethical issues in palliative care; case presentation and discussion (terminal sedation); pain management; importance of patient and family communication; the role of pharmacy, nursing, spiritual services, and social work; nutritional options for late stage patients; benefits and burdens and ethical issues in artificial nutrition/hydration; case presentation and discussion (dementia); the need for clear advance directives; managing family conflict; nursing role in neglect prevention; and the need for setting goals in end-of-life care.
Objectives:
After completing this video tape, you should be able to:
- Identify three important components of palliative care;
- Discuss pain assessment and treatment in the terminally ill patient;
- State four important principles of opioid pharmacology in opioid tolerant patients;
- Define the important ethical issues in terminal sedation;
- Discuss nutritional options for late stage dementia patients (LSDP);
- Identify the benefits and burdens of artificial nutrition/hydration for LSDPs;
- Define the ethical issues surrounding artificial means of nutrition/hydration.
Faculty:
Miriam R. Oakum, MD is a member of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) in Little Rock. AR. She is the Chief Clinician of the Women’s Health Center and Co-Chief of the Palliative Care Program. Dr. Oakum is board certified in Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Medicine.
Reed A. Thompson, MD is an assistant professor in the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He holds secondary faculty appointments in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery and in the Division of Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Thompson is Director of the Palliative Care Service at UAMS and Co-Chief of the Palliative Care Program at CAVHS in Little Rock, AR. He is board certified in Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine. His principal research interest lies in end-of-life education.