Nature and Challenges of Palliative Care in Heart Failure

By

Introduction3

Literature Search Strategy6

Chapter 1: What palliative exit for heart failure patients?9

Strengths of Paliative Care Methods for Heart Patients9

Weaknesses of Palliative Care Methods for Heart Patients15

Chapter 2: Challenging in delivering palliative care for heart failure patients?18

Chapter 3: Nurses role in improving palliative care in heart failure patients?25

Chapter 4: Searching the Reference Lists33

Hand Searching33

Search Strategy33

Inclusion Criteria and Selection of Studies34

Exclusion Criteria34

Characteristics of the Data34

Critiquing Framework35

Ethical Considerations35

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations36

Conclusion36

Recommendations37

REFERENCES39

Introduction

Heart failure could be described as progressive disease of the heart muscles, that is not only extremely incapacitating, but at the same time, the same also seeks to cause an immense increase in the mortality rate of the overall population, with some forms of heart failure being even more devastating and dangerous as compared to cancer (Pastor and Moore, 2013, p. 29). It is generally caused by the occurrence of pathophysiological syndrome, in which the ability of heart to eject or fill it with blood is damaged due to the remodeling of the cardiac tissues. The degree of chamber thickening might vary and at the same time, they might also dilate, thus further deteriorating the situation and making the performance of heart even more ineffective.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is also described as a systematic chronic inflammatory disease, and at the same time, the chronic inflammation is also linked and associated to the production of cytokines, that are also connected to a number of other occurrences and phenomenon (Pantilat and Steimle, 2004, P. 2476). In order to bring about changes in the situation and to ensure that the patients of heart failure are provided with the adequate care and attention, it is essential to highlight some of the factors, with specific focus on the level of education of the family, patient as well as the primary care providers. The heart failure specialists and the teams involved in the situation should also be properly trained and educated in order to ensure provision of specialized and appropriate care to the patients (Morrison and Meier, 2004, P. 2582).

It is eminent to mention here that the increasing number of incidences of heart failure has not only gained the attention of doctors as well as researchers to find the actual causes behind the issue, at the same time, it has also focused on the need to bring about changes in the lifestyle and health situation of the patients (Stewart et al., 2002, P. 7370). It has been observed that the incidence of heart failure is generally linked to the interaction between the lifestyle, environment as well as the genetic makeup of the patient, thus all the factors play an essential role in determining the level of risk faced by the patients. Smoking, lack of proper nutrition, lack of proper exercise as well as the use of alcohol are counted as the major reasons behind the incidence of heart diseases. At the same time, the psychological well being of the patient also plays an eminent role, combined with the disturbances in ...