Palliative and End-of-Life Live-In Nursing Care
Being diagnosed with a life-limiting illness doesn’t have to result in lengthy stays in hospitals or residential care homes. Instead, Consultus can provide a one-to-one palliative care service in the comfort of your own home.
End-of-life nursing care involves treatment, care and support for those who are nearing the end of their life. It is an important part of palliative care and aims to ensure patients live as comfortably as possible in the time they have left in their own homes.
The aim of palliative nursing care is to promote quality of life. You can receive palliative care at any stage in your illness, with many receiving palliative care for multiple years. Palliative care can be provided alongside treatment, therapy and medication aimed at controlling your illness.
What Does Palliative Live-In Nursing Care Include?
A live-in nurse providing end-of-life nursing care will help manage your physical symptoms, provide you and your family emotional support and help provide information to you and your family on what to expect towards the end of your life.
- Close liaison with the community multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to ensure the best support is in place
- Provision of pain relief and symptom management, especially where there may be potentially distressing symptoms
- Support help families cope throughout the client’s illness and during bereavement
Desmond's Palliative Care Story
Once he’d been discharged from hospital following treatment for pleurisy, Desmond made it clear that he wanted no further admissions. He was 96 years old and had congestive heart failure. He wanted the remainder of his life to be spent at his home in Buckinghamshire.
Aware that he only had a very short time to live, Desmond’s daughter came to Consultus. She felt that a professional Live-in Nurse was the answer, as her father’s dependency increased and he became bed-bound. Desmond had signed a living will expressing his desire for his dignity to be maintained at all times and to die in the comfort of his own home. His family was determined to fulfil his dying wishes, a decision supported by his GP.
Our nurse worked closely with Desmond’s daughter, granddaughter, GP, district nurse and occupational therapist to ensure that his final days were dignified and that pain was controlled.
The nurse administered subcutaneous diamorphine as needed for breakthrough pain and continuity of care was provided until the end.
After three weeks, Desmond died peacefully in his own bed, surrounded by his family, exactly as he had wanted.