Guide to Hospice Care

Our Guide to Hospice Care is given to each family at the time of admission and is a great source of information.

To read online or download please CLICK HERE.

Table of Contents

Page

Welcome

1

What You Can Expect 1
Your Care Team 2
Complicated Care 4
After Hours and Emergency Instructions 5
How Our Volunteers Can Help 6

Your Comfort

7

Quality of Life Starts with Comfort 7
Coping with Fatigue 7
Appetite and Nutrition 7
Minimizing Nausea and Vomiting 8
Skin Care 8
Mouth Care 9
Shortness of Breath 9
Talking about Pain 10
Coping with Pain 11
Quick Reference to Managing Pain 15
Just the Pain Facts 15
Alternative Pain Treatments 15
How to Measure Medications 16
Measuring Tips (illustrated) 17
Measuring Devices 19
What to Do with Leftover Drugs 19
Your Emotional Comfort 21
Exploring the Territory 22
Dealing with Difficult Feelings 22
Supporting Children or Grandchildren
in the Family
25
Anticipatory Grief 26
Your Spiritual Well-Being 27

Planning Ahead 28

28

Advance Directives 28 28
Durable Power of Attorney 28
Living Will 29
Do Not Resuscitate Requests 30
CPR 30
Implanted Heart Devices 31
Have the Discussion 31

Tips for the Caregiver

32

Caregiving Skills 34 34
Skin Care 34 34
Mouth Care 34 34
Eating 34 34
Nausea 37 37
Constipation 37 37
Diarrhea 37 37
Incontinence 38
Dizziness 39
Shortness of Breath 39
If You Decide to Hire Additional Help 39
Personal Safety 40
Safe Movement Through the House 40
Fire and Electrical Safety 41
Extreme Weather Conditions 42
Driving and Transportation 42
Safety in Using Equipment 42
Oxygen Equipment Safety 42
Hospital Bed Safety 43
Wheelchair Safety 43
Walker or Cane Safety 43
How to Safely Move and Transfer 44
Infection Control in the Home 46
Hand Washing 46
How to Use Gloves 46
Handling Soiled Clothing and Bedding 47
Disposal of Soiled Dressings 47
Cleaning Large Spills 47
>General Housekeeping and Hygiene 48
Disposal of Needles 48
Bleach Solution 48
Food Preparation 48

Appendix 50

50

Caring for a Urinary Catheter 50
Things to Know About Oxygen 51
Oxygen Use and Humidity 51
Laxative Protocol 52
Precautions for Low Blood Counts 52
Bleeding Precautions 53
Seizure Precautions 54
Medical Treatment Decisions 56
Missouri Residents 57
Kansas Residents 59
Non-Discrimination and Language
Assistance (with translations)
61

About Us

70

Community Support 71

 

 

© Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care, 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this handbook may be reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.