Palliative & EOL Care Concepts
This type of care focuses on symptom relief and quality of life and can be provided alongside curative treatment
What is palliative care?
This team is activated when a patient shows early signs of clinical deterioration.
What is a Rapid Response Team?
This hyperglycemic emergency is characterized by ketosis, metabolic acidosis, and dehydration.
What is diabetic ketoacidosis?
This condition results from excessive circulating T3 and T4 and produces signs of hypermetabolism and sympathetic overdrive.
What is thyrotoxicosis?
This hormone imbalance causes hyponatremia, concentrated urine, and fluid overload due to inappropriate water retention.
What is SIADH?
This is the earliest and most sensitive clinical sign of hypoxemia in acute respiratory failure.
What is a change in mental status?
This positioning strategy improves oxygenation by redistributing perfusion and enhancing alveolar recruitment.
What is prone positioning?
Absent breath sounds, tracheal deviation, and respiratory distress indicate this immediately life-threatening condition.
What is tension pneumothorax?
This condition often presents with sudden dyspnea, tachycardia, pleuritic chest pain, and hypoxemia.
What is pulmonary embolism?
This form of care requires physician certification that life expectancy is six months or less and forgoes curative treatment.
What is hospice care?
This clinical change most commonly triggers RRT activation.
What is acute change in respiratory status or mental status?
This condition presents with severe hyperglycemia and dehydration but minimal or no ketosis.
What is hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state?
This life-threatening endocrine emergency may present with hyperthermia, severe tachycardia, agitation, and diarrhea following stress or surgery.
What is thyroid storm?
This disorder is caused by either decreased production of ADH or renal resistance to ADH.
What is diabetes insipidus?
This syndrome is characterized by diffuse alveolar damage and non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema.
What is ARDS?
This intervention is performed first to stabilize gas exchange in severe chest trauma.
What is airway and oxygenation management?
This lifelong therapy is essential after lung transplantation to prevent immune-mediated graft rejection.
What is immunosuppressive therapy?
These physical findings signal increased work of breathing during an acute asthma exacerbation.
What are use of accessory muscles, diaphoresis, and cyanosis?
This respiratory pattern, marked by periods of apnea and irregular depth, is common near the end of life.
What is Cheyne-Stokes respiration?
This subjective symptom reported by patients is a red flag that often precedes physiologic collapse.
What is a feeling of impending doom?
This clinical feature helps differentiate HHS from DKA.
What is the absence of significant ketosis or acidosis?
This acute, life-threatening adrenal crisis is triggered by stress, infection, or abrupt steroid withdrawal.
What is an Addisonian crisis?
This condition results in excessive dilute urine output and hypernatremia due to lack of ADH action.
What is diabetes insipidus?
These noninvasive ventilation methods require the patient to be awake, stable, and breathing spontaneously.
What are CPAP and BiPAP?
This ventilator setting prevents alveolar collapse by maintaining pressure at the end of exhalation.
What is positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP)?
This nursing intervention is most important to reduce infection risk while preventing rejection after transplant.
What is strict adherence to immunosuppressive medication regimens and infection-prevention measures?
These nursing interventions are key strategies to prevent pulmonary embolism in hospitalized patients.
What are early ambulation, sequential compression devices, and prophylactic anticoagulation?
This nursing action best supports patients with serious illness and complex decision-making.
What is clear communication about goals of care?
This early neurologic change may be one of the first indicators that a patient is becoming unstable.
What is mild confusion or anxiety?
Altered level of consciousness in HHS is primarily related to this physiologic change.
What is increased serum osmolality?
This disorder results from chronic excess cortisol and produces hyperglycemia and immunosuppression.
What is Cushing’s syndrome?
This medication is used as hormone replacement therapy in central diabetes insipidus.
What is desmopressin (DDAVP) or vasopressin?
This hallmark feature of ARDS persists even with 100% FiO₂ delivery.
What is refractory hypoxemia?
These simple nursing interventions significantly reduce the risk of VAP in ventilated patients.
What is maintaining the head of the bed at 30–45 degrees and regular oral care with chlorhexidine?
This chest injury involves paradoxical movement and significantly impairs ventilation.
What is flail chest?
This asthma complication is characterized by unrelieved bronchospasm and progressive respiratory failure.
What is status asthmaticus?
This outcome reflects successful integration of palliative principles.
What is symptom relief with patient-centered decision making?
The primary goal of rapid response systems is to reduce this serious patient outcome outside the ICU.
What is cardiopulmonary arrest?
This clinical finding best reflects adequate treatment response in acute hyperglycemic emergencies.
What is improving mental status with stable vital signs and urine output?
This condition results from severe thyroid hormone deficiency.
What is myxedema coma?
Low serum sodium with concentrated urine reflects this hallmark abnormality in SIADH.
What is dilutional hyponatremia?
A sudden shift from rapid breathing to a slowing respiratory rate signals this life-threatening condition.
What is impending respiratory arrest due to respiratory muscle fatigue?
This daily practice helps determine readiness for ventilator liberation and reduces VAP risk.
What are daily spontaneous awakening trials and spontaneous breathing trials?
Continuous bubbling in this chamber of a chest drainage system indicates an air leak.
What is the water-seal chamber?
This complication of uncontrolled asthma can lead to respiratory failure and requires aggressive airway support.
What is severe bronchoconstriction with air trapping leading to respiratory failure?