The management of patients thought to be in the last period of their illness due to a chronic illness and a hopeless prognosis is carried out by hospice in many countries. Since the setup of hospice in our country is not yet available,...
moreThe management of patients thought to be in the last period of their illness due to a chronic illness and a hopeless prognosis is carried out by hospice in many countries. Since the setup of hospice in our country is not yet available, the care and management of such patients is carried out in hospitals, intensive care units, oncology clinics or home care services. In this context, many of the patients are hospitalized unnecessarily in hospitals or they die at home through lack of adequate medical and psychological support to the patients and their relatives (1). The necessity of establishing a separate care system for the more rational use of resources limited not only for all terminal period patients but also for cancer patients under the favour of the necessary infrastructure arrangements in Turkey has been emphasized in studies (2). In another study carried out in our country, it has been stated that the planning of patient treatment for the hospice practice or for the only terminal period patients in special care units reduces the health expenditures, increases the patient and patient relatives' satisfaction, increases the medical expenses in the current intensive care conditions of the terminal patients, decreases the satisfaction of the patients and their relatives and also that the limited number of intensive care inpatient bed availability is further restricted and support for the intensive care needs of patients due to treatable diseases can not be provided. It is stated that, together with the necessary legal regulations, the setting up of palliative care units or hospice systems, and the more rational use of limited resources are important for both patient and patient relatives' satisfaction (3). It is stated that the patients who are expected to be in the terminal period should be treated in the hospice environment and their palliative care should be provided through physicians, nurses, caregivers and health care teams; these principles are necessity, vitality and a legal obligation in our country. According to the Regulation on Home Care Services Presentation, by Ministry of Health, published in the Official Gazette dated 10.03.2005 and numbered 25751, there is not any article enabling home care services to be given in hospice which is a kind of health institution. In addition, there are currently no structures in our country that can be characterized as hospice except for a few private institutions that provide home support services and limited number of palliative treatment units (5,6,7). The statement presented in the Lisbon Declaration (1981) 'Every patient has the right to die in dignity (article 5).' and the phrase stated by the World Medical Associaton in 1995 at Bali, Indonesia meeting 'The patients have the right to be cared properly and have the right to die in dignity in the last period of their lives.' emphasize that the patient must get medical care and attention at a high level in the death process included in life. Death is a part of life. In this context, it is every human being's right to die in dignity. In our report, we will try to reveal the necessity of hospice in Turkey within routine nursing practices and we will try to examine this situation from ethical and moral point.