ABSTRACT
Although it is important to cover the topic of symptom control, I am only going to touch on the use of drugs when discussing each symptom. This is because I want this book to be read by as many levels of carers as possible, and I realise that not everyone will be a trained nurse. Also, it would take a complete book to comprehensively cover all of the medications that are used for symptom control in palliative care, and there are many palliative care books that concentrate solely on symptom control, and that are written by far more qualifi ed people than me. (A range of suggested reading material can be found in the chapter on ‘Further reading, useful websites and other resources’; see page 155.)
The only way that a patient’s symptom(s) can be improved is by understanding the cause and then applying the appropriate treatment. The challenge to carers is to continually review the patient in order to observe any change in their condition, so that the appropriate treatment can be implemented as soon as possible. People who are receiving palliative care have a life-limiting illness that is constantly progressing, which means that their condition can change quite suddenly. A patient may appear quite well one day and then seem very unwell the following day. Carers are in a unique position to observe the emergence of changing needs or symptoms, because they generally spend longer periods of time with the patient than do other members of the medical profession, such as doctors.
