PALLIATIVE CARE UNIT
As Fethiye State Hospital, we started to provide service to our patients with our Palliative Care Unit as of March 7, 2018. Our 9-bed unit provides support services to our citizens with 8 nurses and expert staff under the coordination of Responsible Physician Specialist Dr. Özlem ÖNDER.
WHAT IS PALLIATIVE CARE?
Developments in the field of medicine are gradually increasing the average life expectancy. In parallel with this, the population of the elderly and those with chronic (continuous) diseases is also increasing. This increase has led to the emergence of palliative (supportive) care units, the need for which has recently been recognized and which have begun to be established in recent years. These units, which are widely available in developed countries, have also begun to be established in our country after 2012-2013.
The World Health Organization defines palliative care as ‘In patients and families who encounter problems arising from a life-threatening disease; It is defined as an approach that includes applications aimed at preventing and alleviating suffering by meeting physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs with early diagnosis and flawless evaluation of pain and other problems and aims to improve the quality of life.
The aim of this service is to reduce the problems that occur due to the disease and disturb the patient to a level where the patient can tolerate the disease. In palliative care, it is aimed to provide the best possible quality of life for the patient and their family. In this sense, training is also provided to the relatives of the patient.
Symptoms such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, sleep problems, shortness of breath, diarrhea, constipation and confusion experienced by the patients negatively affect their quality of life. The aim of the palliative care service is to control these complaints.
Advanced-stage Alzheimer's patients, advanced-stage cancer patients, all kinds of neurological patients who have difficulty in home care, patients with advanced-stage heart, lung and kidney failure, patients with nutritional difficulties and patients with pressure sores due to constant bed rest can benefit from the palliative care service.
In order to achieve these goals in palliative care, many specialists and units (Anesthesiology, Oncology, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Chest Diseases, Psychiatry, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Social Worker, Psychologist, etc.) are actively working together.
