Abstract
Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease (CJD) is a rare disease, the essence of which is the uncontrollable proliferation of infectious prion protein in brain tissue. The disease is incurable and ends with death.
The patient is therefore only dependent on palliative treatment. The main aim of the work is to describe nursing care of a patient with CJD and emphasize the importance of palliative care.
The partial objective is to raise awareness of CJD among healthcare professionals and to specify care for these patients. The thesis is processed as a case study of a particular patient with CJD.
The method is study medical records of a patient in a hospice facility and co-operation with treating staff and doctors. The result of the work is the finding that the patient has been treated fully in accordance with palliative care standards.
Although it was taken as non-hospitable, with decubitus, urinary catheter and nasogastric tube, after a few days of care, she was able to eat and discharge herself. This has had a great impact on the preservation of human dignity, which is one of the crucial factors.
At the end of her life she had no pain and she was with her loved ones until the last minute. On the basis of case studies, palliative care can not differ fundamentally from different diagnoses but it is a specific precautionary use of disposable material for the care of patients with CJD.
Significant is the fact that all suspicions of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy can be solved with the only specialized workplace in the Czech Republic. This also performs a compulsory dissection for every patient with CJD, as only the diagnosis can be demonstrated.