Any Family dealing with the loss of a loved one is usually involved in the Medical Community. The ones wit the most frequent and closest care are the nurses. The nurse is there working closely with the client assess their needs as well as the families needs. Family and dear friends are coping with the many physical and emotional demands of the dying or palliative patient. It is a heavy burden to bear and bearing it can cause a deep feeling of hopelessness that blurs all vision of hope for help and improving the situation for both the Patient and the Family.
A Nurse is a listening ear and not only for the client but for the family. There are a lot of fears that can be put to rest when they are voiced and appropriate and helpful solutions are presented. A nurse is A Client Advocate who will speak up and seek out help that the client or family may not know how to or be unable to themselves.
When many fears have been put to rest by being able to talk them out with the Nurse and Other members of the Palliative team then the client and family will have a better sense of being in control of the process a little better and are then able to make healthier and more beneficial decisions for their care.
A Client who is unable to speak for themselves is often spoken for by the family member. They may not be reading the signs that the patient may be giving non-verbally.The Nurse can come along side the Family member and help them become more aware of how to assess the needs and manage comfort levels in a safe and healthy way.
Speaking the truth in kindness is a difficult thing to do. But as the Patient is priority the nurse takes this responsibility and does her best to respectfully bring to awareness the needs. She helps set up a Plan with the Doctors, Case managers and many other valued members of the health team.
Often a Spouse will try to take a lot of the load on themselves and they often get burnt out and put themselves at risk of physical and emotional exhaustion. There are many Palliative resources that can alleviate the stress and help improve both client and Family members safety. For example and older woman trying to help her palliative husband to the bathroom is unable to support him if he would fall and the risk of them both ending up with a detrimental injury is high! The care giver in this case the wife would be of no further help if she ended up in hospital with a broken hip for example. This can be avoided with getting a helper in for transferring the client or for daily care like getting bathed etc.
Helping the Client and Family become aware of the help they can get and being positive with them as much as possible Speaks Hope were things seem Hopeless!
It Is always good to talk and ask as many questions as you need to. You can only get more information to help relieve your overwhelmed feelings if You are in this situation.