Hospice is based on a wholistic approach that provides a wide range of services and focusses on the patient's and the family's needs as well. What you need and want is central to quality hospice care. The hospice staff and your physician must inform you of all options available, all services which may be provided and work with you to create a plan of care that meets your needs. And, you might be surprised to learn that what patients and families want may vary widely from one situation to another. While some patients want pain totally eliminated, others do not want any medication.
Some patients wish to remain as alert as possible, while others ask to be sedated.
While it may be possible to be completely alert and relatively pain free, this is not always possible in all cases. Different medications may be given for symptom relief, and often, different methods of giving the medications may be used as the patient's condition changes. 1 Hospice services are to be tailored to meet your needs, within the confines of the rules governing hospice care. The benefits of hospice include the staff, medications and equipment needed to meet the needs you have in treating the terminal illness, and the hospice you use must make its services available to you on a 24 hour basis. The Interdisciplinary Team is comprised of your Attending Physician, the Medical Director of the hospice, the registered nurse, a social worker, chaplain, and other health care professionals.