From Becky Dorner, RD, LD
Health care professionals are often faced with difficult questions related to nutrition and hydration care at the end of life. End of life situations may bring potential liability issues and ethical dilemmas. There may be complex social, psychological, or physical issues that must be addressed in addition to providing basic medical nutrition therapy (MNT). Care decisions can become quite complicated. Some individuals have difficulty tolerating food and fluid, or have no desire to eat due to a myriad of symptoms that may occur due to the disease process, the treatments or the dying process. Lack of desire for food can be difficult for loved ones to accept. When all oral nutrition interventions have been exhausted, the decision of whether to place a tube feeding or IV can be one of the most difficult decisions for a family to face. This program will review the importance advance directives play in determining nutrition/hydration interventions, the importance of developing protocols for nutrition/hydration for palliative care patients, how to intervene to alleviate discomfort for various symptoms at the end of life and provide the learner with a basic understanding the dietetics professional’s role in providing nutrition and hydration care for the dying patient.
Participants will :
1. Understand the importance of advance directives and living wills for determining nutrition/hydration wishes 2. Apply practical standards for development of protocols for nutrition/hydration at end of life
3. Implement procedures for assessing and intervening for various symptoms at the end of life
4. Apply comfort care measures for nutrition/hydration
5. Understand the basics of how to address ethical issues for end of life nutrition/hydration
Course Hours: 3
Level II Learning Codes: 1050, 4120, 4190, 5000, 5030, 5040, 5100, 5410, 5430, 5440
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