Palliative Care
Symptom relief & support for patients facing serious illness such as cancer, heart failure & COPD
Focusing on What Matters to You
Palliative Care focuses on what matters to you, as well as what is the matter with you. Our team assists with support and symptom relief for patients with serious illness.
Palliative Care works to guide patients and families through complicated decisions and helps lessen the confusion and fear that come with severe, chronic illnesses. Palliative care is offered in addition to care you already receiving from primary care provider and specialists.
Appropriate for any patient facing a serious illness like cancer & heart failure
Available to patients in restorative care & hospice care
Compatible with ongoing treatment
Focuses on management of symptoms including pain, anxiety, nausea & delirium
Assists with advance care planning & medical decision making
Our Palliative Care team currently includes two physicians and two nurse practitioners. We are available via physician referral to:
Patients with serious disease admitted to NMMC-Tupelo
Discharged palliative care patients for follow up care through home visits
Cancer patients at NMMC Hematology Oncology in Tupelo
Heart failure patients in coordination with Cardiology Associates
Palliative Care can be especially helpful to patients, their families and the health care team when there is:
Assistance required for complex decisions
Unacceptable level of pain or other distressing symptoms
Unresolved psychosocial or spiritual issues
Frequent emergency room or hospital visits
Lengthy or complicated hospital stays
Diagnosis of a potentially life-limiting illness
Diagnoses including cancer, heart failure, COPD, kidney disease or dementia
Provides education on available treatment options that align with patient values
Allows patients & families to make informed decisions about medical care
Assists the health care team in maximizing comfort & streamlining treatment
Expert care for pain, shortness of breath, nausea & constipation
Can address difficulty sleeping, anxiety, depression, anorexia & other symptoms
Advocates for the patient’s beliefs & wishes
Offers spiritual & emotional support for patients and families
Maintains the patient's dignity throughout the course of the illness
Managing a chronic, life-threatening illness is stressful. The Palliative Care team believes that proper knowledge and understanding about the illness and possible treatment options helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Furthermore, education empowers patients and families to make confidently the choices that best fit their goals of care. In addition to the "Conversations Before the Crisis" workbook created by the NMMC Palliative Care team, these resources offer valuable insight to palliative care and end of life planning:
National Institute on Aging palliative care & hospice
National Institute on Aging advance care planning
Related Locations
Related Resources
View AllWe believe a conversation about the care of a serious illness is invaluable to a patient's treatment planning and decision making. The Palliative Care team is dedicated to supporting these conversations both in the community and in the hospital.