Practicing nursing
Practicing nursing comes with several problems. I chose management of pain in the dying patient on hospice. I engaged my leaders, and they mentioned some of the essential factors that do influence pain management. Some of the factors include; myths relating to the management of pain among terminal patients and limited access to medications that control terminal pain in the most appropriate way, and the tendency of caregivers to divert drugs hence leaving patients skewed in pain. Giving proper pain management to patients is has been prevented by several barriers. Inadequate training and lack of experience are obstacles facing several physicians managing complex pain ( ). A significant number of doctors refuse to make hospice referrals for different reasons; most people and doctors lack faith in hospice. This makes them decline to send patients to hospice for pain management. In their view, hospice is like a death trap that can cause the patient to die sooner. Proper training would enable them to acknowledge the existence of a skilled medical director with training in pain management, and he can make home visits if necessary. Medical providers, patients, and families have some beliefs and misconceptions about using pain medication correctly ( ). Besides, the difference between dependence and addiction is always confused occasionally. Patients sometimes decline to take the medication because they fear getting hooked on them even if they are terminally ill, resulting in death. I have also witnessed patients recovering from addiction declining to take pain medication because they fear that they might get addicted again. Moreover, noncompliance with the medication is a common practice, sometimes the caregivers do not offer them appropriately, or the patients do not take them as prescribed ( ). The family member communicates with them if they feel like the pain has reduced and will not sleep deeply.
The management of pain is a challenging research topic, and the direct information about pain management for terminally ill patients is limited. The subject of discussion relates to nursing, and the caregivers need good education and emotional support. It is critical to let them know that giving the medication is right, and giving the pain medication will not end a patient’s life. Education is another symptom that can be perceived as pain, such as depression or anxiety. Quality pain management in patients with terminal complications entails covering all the bases. Pain is subjective; therefore, what the patient or family members perceive is sufficient to cause an issue. Some family members do not realize that they should grimace at one point; another thing that giving medication increases their comatose state or causes their death. At some point, we as nurses have asked someone if he is in pain, they report a 15, and then immediately he goes back to sleep. Pain management is a challenging issue that is unquantifiable, especially to those patients who never complains.