Palliative Care for COPD Patients: Nursing Assignment

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

NURSING ASSIGNMENT1
Palliative care can be defined as the care process devised for the terminally ill
patients as well as their family members. Palliative care process includes the
specialized medical care services that are specifically tailored to elevate the quality of
living of the patient suffering from a critical illness. The purpose behind the provision of
palliative care is to elevate the quality of living of the patient. It should be noted in this
context that palliative care is provided by a set of multidisciplinary care professionals
that include a team of physicians, nurses as well as other healthcare professionals so
as to ensure holistic wellness of the patient. Research studies mention that palliative
care typically specializes in offering treatment to patients suffering from the symptoms
of chronic illness disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney
disease, congestive heart failure or Parkinson’s disease. The care outcome specifically
ensure relief from pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite and
other symptoms that have collectively led to the progression of the disorder in the
patient. In close association to the provided case study, this paper would focus on the
patient Mrs. Brown and her symptoms related to COPD. Further, the paper would delve
deeper into the analysis of the case study and identify patient care priorities and
accordingly devise interventions to elevate the quality of life of Mrs. Brown and her
family members.
On the basis of the patient information provided in the case study, it can be
stated that the primary problems experienced by Mrs. Brown is her excessive coughing
and shortness of breath. Further, Mrs Brown’s inability to effectively manage her
activities of daily living can directly be attributed to the identified symptoms. Also, on
account of Mrs. Brown’s restricted ability to address her activities of daily living, she is

NURSING ASSIGNMENT2
heavily dependent on her husband. As per Horton et al. (2013), limited self-ability and
becoming heavily dependent on others for addressing basic sustaining activities triggers
depression. This can be correlated in the case of Mrs. Brown as she mentions that
because of her illness she feels that she would soon become a burden for the family. In
addition to this, it should be crucially noted here that because of the symptoms of
shortness of breath and excessive coughing, Mrs. Brown is overtly confined to her bed
and is fatigues. This suggests that Mrs. Brown’s quality of life has significantly
deteriorated. According to Steptoe et al. (2013), the burden of a critical physical illness
affects the quality of mental wellness and leads to the emergence of mental health
issues. It can be stated in this context that on account of Mrs. Brown’s excessive
confinement to her bed and limited ability to address activities of daily living, her level of
social interaction has considerably declined. As stated by Kale et al. (2015), social
isolation and reduced social interaction leads to the development of depression and
anxiety among patients. Hence, the two primary care priority identified for Mrs. Brown
are shortness of breath and reduced social- interaction.
According to Beernaert et al. (2013), an effective nursing care plan for palliative
care must comprise of appropriate nursing goals along with evidence based intervention
strategies and an evaluation procedure so as to test the effectiveness of the devised
nursing interventions. In accordance to the primary patient problems identified, the
nursing care goals for Mrs. Brown would include relieving Mrs. Brown of her shortness
of breath and clearing the airway passage by demonstrating breathing exercises and
improving the level of social-interaction of Mrs. Brown by making referral to community
engagement program.