Definition: Suffering a term commonly used in palliative care and hospice care as it relates to the dying process. Suffering can be defined as the bearing of pain, inconvenience, or loss; as pain endured; as distress or loss; or as pain or sorrow.
Suffering in palliative care and hospice is usually physical suffering as a result of symptoms of the terminal illness or process of actively dying. Suffering can also be emotional or psychosocial as a patient or family struggles with the actuality of death and loss.
Palliative care is directed towards preventing and alleviating suffering. By focusing on physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the patient and family, the palliative care team helps alleviate causes and symptoms of suffering.
Also Known As: agony, torment, torture, pain, distress
