Palliative Approach in Nursing Practice

Thus, the result for sedation in patients with advanced cancer-related problems or other terminal illness in the society could result in multiple views according to the scholars. Sedation, in this case, involves administering drugs into the immune system of the patients to relieve the pain they are undergoing. Medications used during this procedure include Lorazepam, Midazolam, Fentanyl, Ketamine, Etomidate, Isoflurane and Propofol among others in the field. Palliative care in the nursing sector in an approach which is related to the act of giving medical assistance to those patients with life-limiting sicknesses (Indian, 2013). Therefore, sedation is seen as a dilemma when applied during palliative care process since it seems to conflicts with the medical ethics and standards according to some individuals in the community while it is also approved as the best way to relieve pain to those patients who are in critical conditions.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, these four basic principles of medical ethics incorporate the following: Autonomy: the policy is grounded in the fact that a competent and informed mature patient can either accept or reject any drug, surgeries or medical treatment based on their wishes. All these decisions are expected to be followed strictly and respected by any person in concern (doctors, nurses, and families). The critical aspect of this kind of principle is privacy. Thus, sedation for this case can only be applied when the will and wishes of the patients have been adhered to without any breach. The cancer-related patient is the final decision maker when it comes to autonomic principle. Every healthcare provider should, therefore, conduct themselves and practice in a manner that will cause no harm to the patient’s life.

Application of sedation towards treating or relieving pain among these patients could be an effective way of providing a better solution to their healing. Terminal illness, in this case, needs to be addressed primarily to avoid any harm to the patient while also improving their living conditions. On the other hand, the method of sedation will put an individual into unconsciousness thus no pain will be felt hence the overall objective according to the principle will be achieved. Adequate sedation is one of the ways to avoid harm among patients in the hospital. In advanced cancer, patients usually experience several refractory symptoms during the end late phase of their life. Thus, the use of palliative sedation could be an effective way of relieving them from this refractory suffering (Indian, 2013).

Another aspect of great significance from the discussion is that the patient is given time to recover from all the pain undergone during the later stage of this chronic disease. Application of palliative sedation to patients helps them to avoid much suffering and thoughts that might come across while also allowing the various disturbances from external factors (Indian, 2013). The patient is given enough time to relax before being engaged in another dose of medication. This is because it leads to practical outcomes that could be used by healthcare providers in situations that need multiple treatment choices which can sometimes not be controlled (Barathi et al. Works Cited. Barathi B, Prabha S Chandra. Palliative sedation in advanced cancer patients: Does it shorten survival time? - A systematic review: Retrieved from: http://www.