Patients with Life-Altering Illnesses Essay -- Nursing, Health Care

Communicating with mortal who has a action-altering illness is not an easy task. A mortal necessitate to have compassion, patience, and listening skills. I have seen firsthand how a caring healthcargon provider and having an attitude of optimism can prolong a persons life. Illness can be characterized as acute, chronic, and life-altering (Tamparo). Acute is when a patient experiences severe symptoms for a short amount of time. Acute illnesses are not life-altering unless they are not treated. If left untreated, it may then go away into a chronic illness. A chronic illness is when the symptoms go on for a long period of time. Some examples are arthritis, multiple sclerosis, emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chronic illnesses may then progress to a life-threatening illness. Some examples are HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. This lay out is when death is inevitable. More than forty-five percent of Americans are living with a chronic illness which affects their daily activities (Consortium).It not only affects the patient further family members as well. A few of the healthcare problems that are common with a life-altering illness are stress, trust issues with the healthcare system and family, depression, and end of life decision making. Having a good support system is so primary(prenominal) to these patients so, keeping the communication open between the physician and patient ordain help tremendously. It will relieve some of the frustration that accompanies the illness.Some of the biggest obstacles patients with a life-altering illness deal with are (1) The stigma of the disease (2) Lack of comely family support (3) The impact of the disease on themselves and their family (4) Lack of adequate resources (Rober... ...ongress Briefed on the Self Management of Chronic Illness. (2011) 1-5. Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). 2011. Web. 17 June 2011.Farber, MD, Neil J., Susan Y. Urban, MD, Virginia U. Col lier, MD, Joan Weiner, PHD, Ronald G. Polite, Elizabeth B. Davis, PHD, and E. Gill Boyer The Good tidings About Giving Bad in the buffs to Patients. Dec. 2002. Groopman, Jerome E. The Anatomy of Hope How People Prevail in the Face of Illness. New York Random House, 2004. Print. Kowalczyk, Liz, ed. Learning the Patients View. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 17 June 2011. Roberts, Cleora S., Cindy Severinsen, Chuck Kuehn, Drew Straker, and C. delight Fritz. Obstacles to Effective Case Management with AIDS Patients The Clinicians Perspective. Web. 17 June 2011.Tamparo, C., and W. Lindh. Therapeutic discourse for Healthcare. Clifton Park Delmar Cenage Learning, 2007. Print.