This Ausmed Course uses a holistic framework to explore the reasons why appropriate nutrition and hydration in palliative care is important. The broad nutritional needs of the person approaching the end of life are addressed, along with practical suggestions for how healthcare professionals can accurately assess and provide for these needs.
State the major tenet of palliative care and how this relates to nutrition and hydration.
Describe the assessment of a person for nutrition and hydration requirements, clearly differentiating between malnutrition and dehydration, and hunger and thirst.
Describe practical ways to ensure appropriate and timely nutrition and hydration are administered to a person at the end of life.
This Ausmed Course is relevant to registered nurses and other healthcare professionals, especially those working in palliative care, aged care and community settings.
A person requiring palliative care often presents with fragility and general weakness. During an assessment, they may describe difficulties with their appetite, diet and fluid intake. Readily observable changes in their appearance might also be evident.
In order to address the tenet of comfort for the individual, and to subsequently meet the individual’s daily comfort needs, it is critical that healthcare professionals accurately assess and manage these changes.
Decisions in relation to the nutritional and hydration needs of a person can then be made together with the person approaching end of life, their caregiver and other members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
The purpose of this Ausmed Course is to reinforce a range of key considerations relating to nutrition and hydration when a person requires palliative care.
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