ATTITUDE OF NURSES CARING FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL IN AFRICA
Medical professional including nurses have a critical control over the terminally ill patient, because it is a matter of life and death their expertise is required to be considered in this time of need. Nurses must exert their effort to play the part to prolong the patients hope to live and their expert advice to their immediate family to accept the facts that they cannot change. Their knowledge and attitude must not be question and total care must be met for their administrative function. Patients however may also require a solid attention not just on medical professional but also their family and colleague the best they can do is to support the patients to be beside them.
There are many cases in Africa that most patients died in this condition because of HIV, maternal problem and aids that is why family and local community has hoped for the impact of three palliative care interventions in their countries. This program has been given priority and somehow became a success in health care, basically this method has been introduced to Malawi, Kenya and Uganda initiated by local nursing and medical authority with the help of the community in their respective places.
The truth is that nobody not even the greatest medical doctor can increase the life of a person but they can only do so is to hope for the best that is why this concern has been tested all throughout. Palliative care is concerned with practical and emotional intervention, spiritual deep care, and education. This requires a vital research and assessment based on good proper practices, nursing aid together with their patients must exemplify acceptance and faith to be cured.
In another point in time community support for patients to realize has been pre- assessed, they must take caution when dealing with patients this group are trained to speak only the things that can help them, and they cannot argue nor blame the patients for it will only weaken their conditions. They are given a series of information and sets of questions that they can use to ask for patients and medical professionals to make sure that the spirit of the patients will be uplifted, they usually end up in prayer before they leave and patients are very thankful about their home visit.
Poverty stricken community may lead to shortage of health workers has been the problem, they tend to resort into the private hospital to seek for their cure but financial problem arises, palliative care emerge successful because of combined approach and proper nursing symptom assessment and care. African Palliative Care Association are promoting palliative care in Africa knowing that people especially terminally ill patient has a needs and therefore must require this attention of hope therefore humanitarian in nature. There are various palliative health care programs available for although the APCA has only been limited to their services.
In Malawi Palliative health care has been introduced although there are little sponsors there were also nurses available for the sick and most of them are volunteers focusing on physical health and support. In Uganda they were able to establish faith based support program including the fisher folk and poverty stricken community who would like to volunteer to support the HIV patients even if they do not belong to their family. While in Kenya a well established Christian based hospital sponsored the palliative care program to help the patients.
The Mau Hospital serves about 700,000 community residences with various illnesses and terminally ill individual including aids, maternal problem and various cancers. Mau Hospital has given hope for the poor not just their physical but also their spiritual needs. Palliative care more than medicine treatment and nursing of medical health workers addresses a combination of the best cure for physical, psychological and spiritual support for people who are suffering from dreadful disease.
Helping each other and caring for the people in needs with the help of health worker, medicine, and encouragement of their family, traditional methods of cure and its entirety equal to the community volunteerism and helpfulness to take away the pain. Their total cooperation works greatly and must be expanded as the needs may arise. Although poverty stricken communities from this three countries, the result has been effective. Terminally ill patients has been very thankful for the nursing support from various sectors including medical professional, sponsors and communities, furthermore they have regain their strength and dignity and if they have to die, they will die with respect and high spirit all this is because of the nursing effort of everyone.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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