For a patient with long-standing heart failure who has entered hospice, what measure should the nurse prioritize?

For a patient with long-standing heart failure who has entered hospice, what measure should the nurse prioritize?

• A. Taper the patient off his current medications
• B. Continue education for the patient and his family
• C. Pursue experimental therapies or surgical options
• D. Choose interventions to promote comfort and prevent suffering

Answer: (D)

In hospice care, comfort and relief of suffering guide all decisions. For a patient with long-standing heart failure who has entered hospice, the nurse should prioritize measures that promote comfort and prevent distress. This means focusing on symptom management—relieving dyspnea and pain, reducing anxiety, nausea, and agitation, and ensuring the patient’s remaining time is as comfortable as possible. The care plan should align with the patient’s goals and may include appropriate comfort-focused medications and supportive interventions, such as careful medication use to ease symptoms, proper positioning, and emotional and spiritual support for both patient and family. Aggressive or experimental therapies are not the aim in hospice when they don’t enhance comfort or align with goals of care, while education for the family remains important but is secondary to achieving comfort.

In hospice care, comfort and relief of suffering guide all decisions. For a patient with long-standing heart failure who has entered hospice, the nurse should prioritize measures that promote comfort and prevent distress. This means focusing on symptom management—relieving dyspnea and pain, reducing anxiety, nausea, and agitation, and ensuring the patient’s remaining time is as comfortable as possible. The care plan should align with the patient’s goals and may include appropriate comfort-focused medications and supportive interventions, such as careful medication use to ease symptoms, proper positioning, and emotional and spiritual support for both patient and family. Aggressive or experimental therapies are not the aim in hospice when they don’t enhance comfort or align with goals of care, while education for the family remains important but is secondary to achieving comfort.