By Vanessa Orr
Siglinda Flores, APRN, Baptist Health South Florida, has always felt that palliative care was her calling. As a person who cares for patients who are being treated for cancer, she understands how important it is to not only meet their physical and psychological needs, but to work with their families and loved ones to prepare them for every stage of the medical journey.
Flores joined the specialized Symptom Management and Palliative Medicine Program at Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute in 2018, where she works with a multidisciplinary team of social workers, chaplains, priests, psychiatrists, psychologists, rehab oncologists, nutritionists, and physical and speech therapists to provide patients with pain and symptoms management and assist them in meeting their goals while they are continuing to receive cancer treatment.
“It is a devotion; it is more than a job,” Flores says of the field she’s worked in since 2011. She adds that she was inspired by her prior experience working in the ICU dealing with dying patients who were coded despite their poor prognosis and/or families not allowing them to die naturally.
“Palliative care differs from traditional medical care in many ways,” she explained. “First of all, our specialty focuses on the patient’s holistic care—not only their condition and medical treatments, but their spiritual and psychological well-being.
“My primary goals are that my patients not suffer from pain (physical and mental) or symptoms, and that their emotional, psychological and spiritual needs are met,” she continued. “Most important is that my patients understand their cancer prognosis, their treatment, and are able to prepare their advance directives, such as a living will, so that their wishes are known.”
Palliative care can benefit patients in many ways. In addition to helping to reduce stress and relieve pain, it can help patients manage physical side effects from therapy and make daily activities easier. It can also help patients learn to handle fears about the future and cope with the burdens that come with having a serious illness.
Patients and their families are encouraged to take an active role in plans for the patient’s medical care, and palliative care specialists can help them weigh the pros and cons of different treatment options and provide guidance with difficult medical decisions.
According to Flores, palliative care should start at the beginning of a patient’s disease. This differs from hospice care, which focuses on relieving a patient’s pain and symptoms when that person can no longer receive cancer treatments and is expected to live less than six months. Starting palliative care as early as possible can greatly improve patients’ quality of life, helping them experience fewer or less intense symptoms and making it less likely that they will end up in the hospital.
In addition to helping her patients, Flores works with the palliative care team to assist patients’ families through the disease trajectory. This includes evaluating their understanding of the illness, as well as assessing their emotional and psychological readiness-coping mechanisms.
“It’s important to establish a trusting relationship,” said Flores of her work with both patients and families. “We have a wonderful team here who truly appreciates the opportunity to be there for them.”
To learn more, visit baptisthealth.net
