A woman visited the clinic, seeking palliative care services and to see a provider about managing her pain and her goals for care.
The physician thought the patient’s most pressing issue was physical pain, but that wasn’t the problem she mentioned when asked what she most wanted, recalls Ellen Wild, RN, CHPN, palliative care nurse coordinator with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
“She began to cry because these discussions were so difficult to have with her family,” Wild says. “Patients want to be able to tell their story and have someone listen to them.”
They also don’t want to be a burden on their family. Wild helped the woman develop a plan of care that gave her some independence and helped relieve her of the feeling that she was a burden to her family.
“This woman was very appreciative that someone asked her why she was coming in, and she thanked me for asking,” Wild says.
To learn more about the patient, Wild asked her what she understood about her medical treatment.
“Then I tried to discern from that how we could best help relieve her symptoms and improve her quality of life,” Wild adds.
In cases like this, Wild also will provide patients with information about how to have these end-of-life discussions with their families, and she will meet with family members as needed. “I’ve had discussions with people about their loved one, whose condition is changing, and what their goals are and how they can achieve these goals — maybe transitioning to hospice care,” Wild says. “Case management plays a role in developing those relationships.”
A woman visited the clinic, seeking palliative care services and to see a provider about managing her pain and her goals for care.
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