Portfolio Option: Hospice Facility Consultant Essay

You are a consultant in a hospice facility for adult patients who come from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The administration has two concerns. First, there have been many patient complaints filed indicating that the staff is abusive, both physically and psychologically.

It is possible that the staff is being abusive (e.g., pulling them out of bed roughly, causing injury), or that the patients are misinterpreting the staff's behavior (e.g., dementia due to Alzheimer's disease may lead them to believe they are not being fed). Second, the patients have difficulty complying with their medication regime, with some seeking alternative methods for treating their illnesses and coping with the dying process.

Based on what you learned in this course, what information should be given to the staff to address both issues? Be sure to specify the following:

Ways in which staff can ensure that patient care is applied in a consistent and respectful manner. Physical and cognitive abilities/limitations should be described. For example, a patient may have physical impairments that make it difficult for him/her to move with ease or to see/hear properly. Cognitive impairments (e.g., dementia) may distort patient perceptions.

Ways in which the staff can get compliance from patients to take medications, as well as ways to show understanding for the patients' varied cultural and ethical beliefs, although implementation of alternative methods can only be allowed if they are not illegal.

Ways in which staff can ease the coping and acceptance process for patients and their families related to dying and death. In particular, patients must be informed of choices available while in the hospital (e.g., DNR) and for their funerals, while the staff helps the families cope with mourning, bereavement, and grief over the loss of kin.
Preliminary Deliverables

Project Topic and Preliminary Examination: Explain why this topic is important to you (in one paragraph), and write a brief overview of the types of illnesses/injuries requiring hospice care (in 2-3 paragraphs). Then, describe a few of your selected furniture and interior design options and explain why they would be optimal for adults in hospice care (in two paragraphs).

Annotated Bibliography and Reference List. You are required to glean appropriate sources from the CSU-Global Library (including academic, professional, and peer-reviewed journal articles) and prepare an annotated bibliography using five to seven of these relevant sources. You certainly should also consider using the assigned readings as supplemental citations. This annotated bibliography must be written in APA format, according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements.