Care at home of the patient with advanced multiple sclerosis--part 2

Clinicians caring for patients with advanced MS have choices of different options and approaches. Whatever path is chosen, interventions must incorporate the wishes and capabilities of the patient and be supported by the care team, usually led by the nurse. As the work of the great psychologist Abraham Maslow has shown, in his famous "hierarchy of needs," the basic levels of needs must be met before the highest self-actualization can be accomplished (Maslow, 1943). This is equally true in the nursing care of very ill patients, as authors Zalenski and Raspa write: "The five levels of the hierarchy of needs as adapted to palliative care are: (1) distressing symptoms, such as pain or dyspnea; (2) fears for physical safety, of dying or abandonment; (3) affection, love and acceptance in the face of devastating illness; (4) esteem, respect, and appreciation for the person; (5) self-actualization and transcendence. Maslow's modified hierarchy of palliative care needs could be utilized to provide a comprehensive approach for the assessment of patients' needs and the design of interventions to achieve goals that start with comfort and potentially extend to the experience of transcendence."(Zalenski & Raspa, 2006, p.1120).