Overview
Introduction
Palliative care addresses distressing symptoms while aligning treatment with the patient's goals, whether the patient is receiving disease directed therapy, hospice care, or car...
Palliative care addresses distressing symptoms while aligning treatment with the patient's goals, whether the patient is receiving disease-directed therapy, hospice care, or care in the final days of life. The practical nurse may be the first clinician to notice that a patient who was conversing yesterday is now withdrawn, that a new opioid dose is followed by somnolence and myoclonus, or that dyspnea persists despite oxygen. The bedside task is not simply to give a comfort medication. The nurse gathers focused data, looks for a reversible contributor, implements ordered measures, reassesses the response, and communicates changes to the RN or authorized provider. A quiet patient may have hypoactive delirium rather than peaceful acceptance. A patient reporting more pain may have opioid-induced neurotoxicity rather than inadequate analgesia. Those distinctions determine whether the next action is another dose, a safety assessment, or urgent escalation.