This comprehensive pocket-size handbook is the essential reference for clinicians and others serving patients with advanced or life-limiting illness. It offers up-to-date, relevant, and highly practical guidance to expertly meet the challenges of serving these patients and their families. This user-friendly manual emphasizes the importance of honoring patients' wishes throughout their medical journey while meeting their whole-person, often complex needs-from symptom management to attending to spiritual and emotional suffering-and always acknowledges the context of patients' lives, including the needs of loved ones supporting them. The layout makes finding information quick and easy, with alphabetically organized chapter headings and a detailed index. Organ-system-based chapters offer disease-specific, goals-of-care discussion guidance and reviews of etiology, signs and symptoms, assessment, and management-including standard treatment as well as palliative options. Other chapters cover communication with patients and families, consultation with colleagues, and code status discussions, along with valuable subjects such as withdrawing life support, ethics, spirituality, physician-assisted death, and palliative options of last resort. Readers will find practical management strategies for symptoms such as pain, nausea, dyspnea, and delirium. In addition, chapters on opioid use and dosing, and pharmacology of commonly used palliative medications, make this guide an invaluable resource.

Take the guesswork out of home hospice caregiving! HOME HOSPICE NAVIGATION: THE CAREGIVER'S GUIDE offers a clear roadmap, guidance, and support for anyone who has to navigate the caregiving maze. It is sparkled with personal anecdotes and tips by the author, a healthcare professional, nurse, case manager and loving daughter. The book is also an integral resource for healthcare professionals and students working with hospice patients and caregivers.Clearly written and well organized, it is a comprehensive resource for those with a life-threatening illness and individuals wishing to open the end-of-life discussion with a loved one. The book helps you understand best practices so you can make better choices. Addresses hospice misconceptions and allays fears and anxieties of what to expect Provides clear and concise caregiving information and pertinent resources How to interact with the various hospice professionals