Palliative Care
Offering a Patient-Centric Approach
At our facilities, our palliative care is focused on the medical, spiritual, and emotional well-being of our patients and their loved ones. When a patient is facing a life-threatening illness, our compassionate team of health care professionals—from specially trained nurses to counselors—focus on symptom management and managing anxiety, depression, and other conditions that can encroach on a patient's health. If you want to learn more about our palliative care or pain program, contact us today. Our team is ready to speak to you.
What Our Palliative Care Entails
Our team of palliative care professionals has a tremendous responsibility to our patients and their loved ones. Quality of life for the patient is our utmost concern and we work closely with patients and their families to ensure optimal care and comfort.
Our goals in palliative care include:
- Pain management
- Symptom relief
- Emotional, social, and social support
- Working closely with loved ones to set treatment goals
Our Palliative Care and Pain Program offers various other services as well, including outpatient visits, consultations, telehealth, and home visits. Our palliative care team will also work closely with our patients' primary doctor to ensure continuity of treatment.
Patients that benefit the most from palliative care include those that have been diagnosed with COPD, Alzheimer's, renal disease, congestive heart failure, cancer and HIV/AIDS. If you would like to learn more about our palliative care capabilities, we're ready to hear from you. Contact us today.
Advanced Care Planning
Advanced care planning involves making future plans for your care and letting others know about your preferences. It allows you to make sure you get the medical care you would want if you were too sick or hurt to express your wishes. It is important to talk with family and trusted loved ones about your goals, values, and wishes for future medical care, regardless of your current health needs or stage of illness.
It is also important for you to have these conversations with your health care providers throughout the illness, even at the beginning. Some decisions that might come up include whether you want to use a life-support breathing machine, have an artificial feeding tube, or resuscitation attempts (CPR) be made if your heart stops. In New Jersey, documents, such as a POLST form, allow for you to record your preferences and to designate a health care agent.
POLST Forms
- Practitioners orders for life sustaining treatment or POLST form
- NJ POLST form in Spanish, Hindi, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian and NJ POLST Video Series
How do you know if Palliative Care is right for you?
Additional Resources and Support
- Center to Advance Palliative Care (Resources for Living with Serious Illness)
- Compassion and Choices
- Get Palliative Care
- Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey
- Home Care and Hospice Association of New Jersey
- New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) Advanced Care Planning
- Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
- The American Medical Association (AMA)
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
- The Conversation Project
- The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)
- The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO)
- The National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH)
- VITAL Talk: Communication Skills for Serious Illness
We are ready to assist you and your loved ones at this critical time. Contact us today to learn more.