Palliative care

The palliative care program at Saint Joseph's provides patients and families with physical, emotional and spiritual support during illness, transition and loss. This program promotes patients' wishes for care by respecting individual beliefs. Palliative care assists with relieving suffering of any kind and provides comfort in as many ways as possible.

What is the purpose of the program?
Just as there is care for preventing and treating disease, there also is care for those whose illness cannot be cured or treated further. In those cases, palliative care provides comfort, eases suffering and promotes patients' wishes. This can mean finding a way to be home with family, bringing the comforts of home to the hospital or finding a hospice provider of the patient's and family's choice.

How does palliative care work?
The palliative care nurse guides the patient's team of doctors, nurses, chaplains and social workers to make a plan for care. The plan is built from the patient's wishes and needs for care. This care can mean finding the best pain relief, listening to worries and finding answers to troubling questions. The nurse meets with patients and families at any time during the hospital stay.

Palliative care assists patients and families by:
1. Listening to feelings and concerns.
2. Asking questions of the health-care team.
3. Working through tough decisions.
4. Relieving suffering through symptom management.
5. Finding help and resources for care after a hospital stay.

For more information about Saint Joseph's palliative care program, or to request help, call 404-851-7697.