Symptom Management at End of Life

Symptom Management at End of Life is proudly presented to you by Hospi Corporation. Thank you. We hope that you enjoy your course.

Description: Many patients lose the ability to swallow at the end of life, effectively compromising the oral route of medication delivery. When the oral route is no longer a viable method of medication administration, alternative routes of delivery must be considered. This lecture reviews the physiology, benefits and burdens of the different routes of medication delivery including sublingual, parenteral (intravenous and subcutaneous), transdermal, rectal (suppository and Macy Catheter). The session will include a discussion on proactive symptom management and recognizing when a patient is at high risk for poor symptom control.

Objectives:

1. Upon Completion of this program, the nurse will be able to identify common symptom management challenges associated with end of life
2. Upon Completion of this program, the nurse will be able to describe the benefits and burdens of varying routes of medication delivery, when the oral route is compromised, including: Sublingual, Parenteral (IV and SQ), transdermal, rectal (suppository and Macy Catheter)
3. Upon Completion of this program, the nurse will be able to describe the components of an agency symptom management protocol to provide best practices to meet patient care goals while providing proactive symptom management