Shared via Rea L Ginsberg
Karen Mulvihill
Guest Contributor: Karen Mulvihill DNP, APRN, ACHPN, FNP,ACHPN – Director of Palliative Care Services, Danbury Hospital
Palliative care has a bad rap and is often underutilized because of the lack of understanding of what it is. Patients panic when they hear “palliative care” and think it means they are dying. But palliative isn’t only for people who are terminally ill, and it is not the same as hospice care. This is a daily discussion I have with patients and families dealing with a chronic life-limiting illness. The first discussion usually centers around why palliative care is not hospice. Palliative care should be part of the treatment plan from the time of diagnosis of an illness through end of life and hospice care. That may be years in some cases!
Palliative care is for ANY patient with a chronic illness who is experiencing a decreased quality of life because…
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