Pain Management for the Terminally Ill

So why are people afraid to die? For some it is the fear that all humans feel in some measure for the unknown. For others, it is the knowledge that there is nothing beyond death but nothingness. But for many it is not the fear of death itself but the fear of dying, the fear of unrelieved pain and suffering. This paper looks at this last issue, at pain management for the terminally ill, as a subject that has been receiving increasing amounts of attention in the past decade. Ideas about dying with dignity and the importance of hospice care have become part of mainstream medicine and mainstream society and most doctors and most patients now believe that for the dying of any age heroic intervention (especially against the wishes of the patient) may not be heroic at all, but simply shows of egotism on the part of the doctors. It has become increasingly acceptable that to acknowledge that the most important service that medicine can offer to some patients (and especially those who are terminally ill) is the relief of pain.

This paper examines the importance of providing appropriate pain relie

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erature on addiction in the terminally ill (which is in fact not a serious problem) so that she or he may discuss the issue knowledgeably with the physician as well as to become as conversant as possible with other methods of pain relief so that she or he can suggest these to the patient (Appleton and Henschell, 1994, p. 36). This is not to say, of course, that the nurse must simply agree to all of the patientÆs demands, for her (or his) role as the primary caretaker may in fact give her a better sense of the patientÆs level of pain than the doctor has. There is a thin line between providing sufficient pain relief and truncating life, and this has been another issue of ethical concern for those who fear that the dying will simply be written off and drugged into a quick and oblivious death. Certainly this is not the goal of the ethical medical professional, but such professionals do often find themselves in the position of trying to find the right balance between alleviating pain and prolonging life. For while part of what the dying person may want is cessation of pain, that person may also want a few last months or weeks or days or hours to come to terms with issues that they wish to resolve. The time to resolve important issues
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Some common words found in the essay are:
, Danto DeBellis, Turk Feldman, Eimer Freeman, Saunders Baines, Appleton Henschell, Ray MC, Sons McDonell, pain relief, Hall DeBellis, terminally ill, relief pain, dying person, relief dying, saunders baines, debellis etal, pain relief dying, danto debellis, pain management, palliative care, danto debellis etal, saunders baines 1983, debellis etal 1992, Haworth Press, mcdonnell 1986 34,
Approximate Word count = 1951
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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