Palliative Healthcare Nursing

Running head: PRIMARY HEALTHCARE NURSING 1
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PRIMARY HEALTHCARE NURSING 2
Palliative Healthcare Nursing
Any high functioning society or nation put health as one the most important things they
take care of since a healthy population translates to a successful society and economic
development in a country. Health is defined as where an individual’s mental, physical and social
status is in a state of wellbeing and there is an absence of infirmity and disease. Therefore,
healthcare systems are put in place in societies to ensure that people maintain the state of well
being or an optimal state of good health. One essential part of any healthcare system such as the
Australian healthcare system is the primary healthcare component which is set standards n any
society in terms of healthcare (Naylor & Kurtzman, 2010). Hence primary healthcare spells out
the different health needs that an individual requires in their lifespan and they do not just cover
treatments but they range from prevention methods to promotion of health ensuring that
healthcare is all rounded. Primary healthcare providers include nurses who mostly have different
clearly defined roles which help them aid patients who are receiving different kinds of primary
care (World Health Organization, 2013). This essay will, therefore, look in-depth at palliative
healthcare nurses, their roles, their clientele, one health issue that is specific to the clientele and
its solution and finally analyze five different health promotion strategies in relation to palliative
care.
Palliative health care is defined as a specialized branch of a healthcare system that deals
with providing care to individuals suffering from serious illnesses which make living hard due o
the symptoms they suffer. Palliative care is hence designed to provide the patient with some
relief from the symptoms and stress associated with the illness with the ultimate goal being there
is an improvement to the patient’s quality of life and also that of their families. Healthcare
providers such as nurses,doctors, and other specialists have to receive specialized training in

PRIMARY HEALTHCARE NURSING 3
palliative care to ensure that the patient is receiving the right, best quality and standard palliative
care (Sherman, 2010). Basically, palliative care is structured around what the patient needs and
not what their prognosis is and the patient can get palliative care at any stage of their illness not
only when it gets serious. Palliative care nurses play an important role in this branch of
healthcare since they fulfil different tasks to ensure that the patient is getting the best care
possible.
Palliative care nursing role is part of primary healthcare due to the fact that any person of
any age can require this type of care when they get a prognosis of a life-shortening disease.
Palliative care is present in different parts of the healthcare system such as in paediatrics and
residential aged care. Hence this shows that it should be incorporated in primary healthcare so
that general practitioners are knowledgeable on how they can help patients who have a life-
threatening prognosis and referring them to the palliative care team will be easier. Since patients
mostly build a lasting relationship with their GPs, incorporating palliative care into primary care
will be easier since the patients will highly likely trust the GPs opinion to get the necessary care
as compared to a stranger telling them to do it (Puchalski, et.al, 2009).
Palliative care nurses or hospice nurses are tasked with providing patients in their charge
with the care that is compassionate. The patients that they are tasked with caring for are usually
terminally ill or have little to no chance of getting well. One thing that is on top of any hospice
nurse to-do list is developing an environment for their patent that provides them with some relief
from their pain and ensures they are comfortable. The nurses can achieve all these goals only if
they work in collaboration with other health professionals and the patent’s family and friend. The
nurses also assess whatever the patent and their family may need and ensure that they can access
these needs wth ease this will reduce any stress they may have gotten, these needs include