Palliative Care

Mission

Palliative care is aimed at providing comfort and respect to individuals who are living with a life-threatening illness. Palliative care is not strictly about end of life care, it is about maximizing quality of life for patients, loved ones and family. Palliative care is about developing a plan of care and a relationship with individuals so that the patient, family and loved ones are part of the end of life process.

Palliative Services provided for Inpatients

An interdisciplinary approach to care planning including Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Registered Dietitians, Social Work and CCAC.
A Reflection Room for family members and loved ones.
Collaboration with Hospice Huron
Nursing care delivered by specially trained nursing staffs who have undergone Comprehensive Advanced Palliative Care Education certification (CAPCE).
Specially designed and furnished palliative care patient rooms.

Goals

AMGH will assist the individual and family with the path of palliative care by respecting patient rights:

The right to access health records
The right to be represented, assisted, and/or accompanied
The right to confidentiality
The right to file a complaint
The right to give or refuse consent to services
The right to information
The right to participate in care decisions
The right to personal safety
The right to receive appropriate services
The right to recieve care and services from professionals
The right to receive emergency care
The right to respect and dignity

Acknowledgements

AMGH would like to extend their gratitude to the Goderich IODE for their generous support in funding the palliative care and Reflection rooms.

The Reflection room is a tranquil place for families to rest and consult with caregivers in a private setting.

Ongoing Commitment to Quality Care

Alexandra Marine and General Hospital has two committees purposed to address palliative care and needs within our community.

The Palliative Committee meets internally with our CAPCE nursing staff discuss current practice, identify opportunities for improvement and plan community awareness.

Community Rounds take place monthly and bring together our external partners in the planning and provision of palliative care.

Cultural and Spiritually Sensitive Care

The staffs at AMGH respect the diversity in cultural and spiritual beliefs and wish to include this diversity in care whenever possible. Please feel free to share these with the staff so that we can assure your journey is as meaningful to you as possible.

You can donate to the Palliative Care Services by clicking on the link below. Please ensure that you specify Palliative Care Services as your fund/designation.

Make a donation to benefit the Palliative Care Program here at AMGH. You must specify that Your Donation is for the Palliative Care Program.

Terms you may hear and what they mean

ESAS- Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale- the patient completes this scale daily. This exercise includes the patient in care and allows the staff to best plan care to meet each individual’s unique needs.

PPS-Palliative Performance Scale-this is a staff completed scale. This tool assists the staff to identify and track care needs such as assistance with ambulation, activity level, self-care, intake of fluid and nutrition and level of consciousness.

Pain- Pain is an objective statement by each individual patient. It is not related to body language or level of activity. Pain is what the patient says it is. Your nurses might ask you to rate your pain on a scale form 0-10 with 10 being the worst possible pain. There are different types of pain and we hope to treat the pain in according to what we see and what you tell us it feels like.