Insights - Summer 2010 - (Page 26)

Complementary Therapy in the Care Continuum By Valerie Hartman, RN, CHPN, CTRN C omplementary therapy—be that music, art, aroma, or touch—offers hospice and palliative care professionals many options in the management of exacerbated physical symptoms, psychological stress and behavioral changes that are uniquely observed in end-oflife care. For example: A registered nurse might refer for reflexology when a patient has intractable nausea and vomiting which does not respond to any antiemetic. Reflexology will address the stress component of the symptom that contributes to the physical disease which, in turn, contributes to the nausea. A social worker might refer for an art therapist when the young child of a patient cannot express or process inner feelings (or stresses) through words, but can through art. A spiritual caregiver might refer for, or get certified, in harp therapy when a patient is in spiritual distress. The instrument’s tones and vibrations can calm the patient’s nervous system and bring about a feeling of peace. Because dying is an integral “body-mind-spirit” experience, it benefits interdisciplinary team members— like the nurse, the social worker and the spiritual caregiver—to have access to the sensory therapies that affect the whole being. In fact, while hospice programs function as an interdisciplinary team, there are times when the practice can still feel compartmentalized by discipline. Complementary therapy is actually a “cornerstone therapy” of 26 Insights

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Insights - Summer 2010

Insights - Summer 2010
Table of Contents
Is it Time to Diversify?
Expanding Care in Your Community
Gaining Community Physician Support
A Collaboration that's Helping ALS Patients
Physical Therapy - Premise, Present, Promise
Complementary Therapy in the Care Continuum
The Evolution of Hospice & Palliative CareCenter's CT Program
Integrating Touch Therapies into the CNA's Practice
The Circle of Care
Taking Your Volunteer Program to the Next Level
Making a Case for Complex Care Management
Helping Non-terminal Cancer Patients Cope
Advance Care Planning Education
Spanish Oaks Hospice: Doing Its Part to Improve Access
Caring for Our Loved Ones - and for Our Caregivers
My.NHPCO - Care, Share, Connect
Why Hospice?
NHPCO's Educational Offerings

Insights - Summer 2010

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