Page 64 - 2020 ARE eGuide for Clinical at Nonhospital Sites

Palliative Care – What is palliative care?

Palliative care focuses on the relief of suffering for patients with serious and complex illness and tries
to ensure the best possible quality of life for patients and their family members. Palliative care is
delivered at the same time as other appropriate curative and life prolonging treatments and is not
limited to the terminally ill; improves quality of care.

Palliative care . . .

• Relieves symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath,
fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty
sleeping and improves the ability to tolerate medical
treatments, while offering the best possible quality of life
during illness.
• Benefits both patients and their families. Along with
vigorous pain control and symptom management,
communication and support for the family are the main
goals. The team offers patients and families psychosocial
and spiritual support and helps them make medical
decisions and choose treatments that are in line with their
goals of care. Patient care is personalized, evidence based,
and sensitive to the cultural, psychosocial, and spiritual
needs of individuals.
• Is provided by an interdisciplinary team at each
hospital. The palliative care team includes: nurse
practitioners, physicians, social workers, and chaplains.
Baptist Health Palliative Care Services provides educational
resources, consultative guidance and direct services to
patients, families, caregivers and the community.
• Is NOT the same as hospice care. Palliative care may be provided at any time during a person`s
illness, from the time of diagnosis and at the same time as curative treatment. Recent studies have
shown that patients who have palliative care interventions live longer than patients without
palliative care interventions.