Nessa Coyle - Böcker

Palliative care is an essential element of our health care system and is becoming increasingly significant amidst an aging society and organizations struggling to provide both compassionate and cost-effective care. Palliative care is also characterized by a strong interdisciplinary approach, and nurses are at the center of the palliative care team across settings and populations. The sixth volume in the HPNA Palliative Nursing Manuals series, Social Aspects of Care provides an overview of the financial and mental stress illness places, not just on the patient, but on the family as well. This volume contains information on how to support families in palliative care, cultural considerations important in end-of-life care, sexuality and the impact of illness, planning for the actual death, and bereavement. The content of the concise clinically focused volumes in the HPNA Palliative Nursing Manuals series is an ideal resource for nurses preparing for certification exams and provides a quick-reference in daily practice.

Effective palliative care that rests on a sound ethical foundation requires ongoing discussions about patient and family values and preferences. This is especially important when addressing care at end-of-life including artificial nutrition and hydration, withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies and palliative sedation as well as requests for assistance in hastening death. The eighth volume in the HPNA Palliative Nursing Manuals series, Legal and Ethical Aspects of Palliative Care, provides an overview of critical communication skills and formal organizational mechanisms, such as ethics committees and interdisciplinary rounds, required for decisions in ethical dilemmas which respect diversity in the views of colleagues, as well as patients. The content of the concise, clinically focused volumes in the HPNA Palliative Nursing Manuals series is one resource for nurses preparing for specialty certification exams and provides a quick-reference in daily practice.