Today's ward rounds were a bit sad. I have a bunch of patients who are quite unwell, some due to cancer and some due to unrelated issues. One thing is certain that they would not be able to manage alone at home. A couple of these patients, do not have any family or friends to support them at home either.
The alternatives are a nursing home or a hospice. Telling a person that they cannot go back home and need to move to a nursing home for the rest of their life, is NOT an easy task. People who have been fiercely independent all their lives are not happy to be dependent on others.
The other major issue for some patients is the decision to move to a Nursing Home versus a Hospice. They are too well to be transferred to a Hospice and thus are planned for a Nursing Home... but by the time they find a Nursing Home place, they are too sick to move there.
Difficult decisions. Tough on just on the patients, but also their families, friends and the health personnel taking care of them.
Life moves on.
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