Family care in Hospice

Name

Institution

Introduction

Hospice care is a special kind of care accorded to patients suffering from terminal illnesses as well as those who are chronically ill. It is also a philosophy of care provision that is ardent on alleviating pain and suffering by providing medical and health care as well as fully satisfying their spiritual and emotional needs. The modern hospice movement rose to actualization through the efforts of Dame Cicely Saunders, a British registered nurse who had pursued a career in medical social work and her experience with a Polish refugee enlightened her on matters concerning the care that terminally ill patients required. Saunders was of the opinion that in attending to chronically ill patients who are faced with death in a very short period of time; it was of crucial essence that care givers focus on the patient rather than the disease. This approach was inclusive of taking care of the patient’s spiritual and psychological needs as well as the physical aspect which was the key concern of the hospice care. The hospice setting also took care of the concerns of the family members as they were largely involved in the process of taking care of their ill family members, mainly by openly talking about death and being prepared for it with regards to the health conditions of the patients (Matzo & Sherman, 2010).

Rationale for choosing topic

The rationale used in choosing the topic is basically the fact that hospice care has grown to be a facility that is essential to a large part of our population. The topic on family care in hospice is crucial to society in the present day more than it has been in past time. This has been largely due to the tremendous increment in the number of diseases and illnesses that present a patient with pains, symptoms and conditions that are terminal. In the past years, most of the patient cases places under hospice were a product of the minimal number of terminal illnesses, which are prevalent within the population. Also some patient came due to the need of most family members to take care of their ill family members. All this has changed with the number of disease affecting the population increasing immensely and also a difference in the attitude of family members. In the present day and age, very few persons are willing to leave their careers and professional to offer home based care for ill family members (Nordenfelt, 2009). This has therefore contributed largely to the continued importance and growth of palliative care in society (Shearer, 2010).

Goal and Objectives

The main goal for family care in hospice is provide compassionate care to dying patients as well as helping the patient’s family members cope with their loved ones condition as well as be ready for what may happen to their patient at any point in time. In the founding of hospice care, there are three key objectives that cater for the patient as well as the family members. One of the objectives of the hospice palliative care is to alleviate the pains of the patient by medically handling the symptoms as well as managing the fears and anxieties of the dying persons. This is very necessary because for most terminally ill persons, there is more fear for continued pain than death hence the care providers have to be keen on that. Another objective is that of ensuring that death comes naturally to the patients no matter what. This therefore means that in hospice care, life support machines are not used because the aim of this case since their aim is to ensure that the terminally ill patients receives the best of life before death rather than prolonging life. The third objective for family care in hospice is to provide a holistic and compassionate care which ensures patients die with dignity. The three intentions are significant since they serve both the patients and their family members (Wright, 2010).

Bloom’s taxonomy and Evaluation method

Bloom’s taxonomy is a term used to denote a framework classification of educational goals. It is a collection of goals and objectives that are indispensable to both the instructor and the learners or students. The taxonomy is divided into three main domains which are: affective, cognitive and the psychomotor. For the cognitive sphere, there is focus on mental skills that are responsible for knowledge, comprehension as well as critical thinking with regards to any particular topic or area of study. It focuses on knowing and understanding of concepts, analysing and synthesising the facts and ultimately applying them when handling a situation followed by evaluation of the whole process after results have been attained. Skills in the affective domain are inclined more to the feelings and emotional areas and is inclusive of abilities such as receiving and responding to stimulus in the learning process, attaching value to knowledge acquired and finally organizing and characterising of the knowledge in a way that it becomes influential to one’s character and personality. For the psychomotor domain, there is emphasis on manual and a physical skill such as perception, which is refers to the use of sensory cues to guide motor activity. Other skills include the set readiness to act, the guided response, the mechanism and ultimately the adaptation of skills to suit the special requirements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be noted that Bloom’s taxonomy is key in many educational philosophies and is very effective as it focuses on skills learnt and acquired rather than content given by tutors and instructors. It is a crucial tool in teaching that helps in assessing and evaluating students and ensuring all skills as mentioned are exercised in the student’s course of learning. The future for hospice is one that is full of promise owing to the much support governments as well as the World Health Organisation has accorded this sector. It is also of essence that society be enlightened on the importance of the care philosophy and the services that it can offer to our society in a bid to make it better. The study of this topic in accordance to the Bloom taxonomy ensures that study objectives are met after learners acquire and comprehend the knowledge given. It is an evaluation tool that is effective in pushing learners to go beyond just reading and understanding but more into analysing situations and knowing how best to handle them in future (Wong, 2012).

References

Matzo, M., & Sherman, D. W. (2010). Palliative care nursing: Quality care to the end of life. New York: Springer Pub. Co.

Nordenfelt, L. (2009). Dignity in care for older people. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell.

Shearer, T. S. (2011). Palliative medicine and hospice care. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders

Wong, L. (2012). Essential study skills. Australia: Wadsworth Cenage Learning.

Wright, M. (2010). Hospice and palliative care in Southeast Asia: A review of developments and challenges in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Oxford: Oxford University Press.