Primary Attending Physician
Your main doctor who oversees your care and communicates with specialists or hospice teams.
Understanding the language of hospice, palliative, and serious illness care is essential for patients, families, and caregivers navigating the healthcare journey. Medical terms can often feel overwhelming or confusing, especially during emotionally challenging times.
Our hospice, palliative, and serious illness definition glossary is designed to simplify key terms, clarify common phrases, and help you feel more informed and empowered when discussing care options with healthcare providers. If there is anything you still have a question about, feel free to give us a call to talk to a care navigator: (856) 596-1600.
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Basic self-care activities like eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (e.g., from bed to chair), and maintaining continence. If someone needs help with these activities, it’s a key sign they may qualify for hospice or supportive care.
Adjuvant Therapy
A secondary treatment that helps boost the effectiveness of the main treatment—like a medication that reduces side effects or increases comfort.
Advance Care Planning
The process of deciding, while you’re still able, what medical care you would want if you were too sick to speak for yourself. This includes making a living will or naming a healthcare proxy.
Advance Directive
A legal document (can be written or verbal) that outlines what kind of medical treatments you want—or don’t want—if you can’t make decisions for yourself. This could include a DNR order, mechanical ventilation preferences, or tube feeding. View New Jersey advance directive resources and forms here.
Anticipatory Grief
Grieving someone before they pass away. It’s a common emotional response when someone close is facing a terminal illness. Learn more about anticipatory grief.
Aspiration
When food, drink, or saliva accidentally enters the lungs instead of the stomach, often due to swallowing problems. This can lead to infections like pneumonia.
Assisted Living Facility
A residence where people can live semi-independently but still get help with daily activities like meals, medication, or bathing.
Atropine
A medication used to dry up excessive secretions in the throat or lungs, often used in the last stages of life to reduce “death rattle.” Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Bereavement
The emotional and physical experience of grief after a loved one dies.
Bereavement Care
Support provided to families after the death of a patient. It can include counseling, support groups, or follow-up from hospice staff. Find grief support resources here.
Bereavement Coordinator
A trained professional on the hospice team who helps families navigate grief, offering resources and emotional support after a loss.
Care Transition
The process of shifting a patient from one care setting to another, like hospital to home or from curative to hospice care. This transition is sensitive and needs careful coordination.
Caregiver Burnout
Physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from long-term caregiving without enough rest or support.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
A life-saving technique that includes chest compressions and sometimes electrical shocks to restart the heart. Often not recommended in hospice due to quality-of-life considerations.
CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
The federal agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare covers hospice care under specific eligibility guidelines. Visit the CMS website here.
Comfort Care
Focused on relieving symptoms and improving quality of life, not curing the illness. The main goal is to keep the patient comfortable and pain-free.
Comfort Care Kit
A pre-stocked supply of medications kept in the home to quickly manage symptoms like pain, anxiety, nausea, or shortness of breath.
Consulting Physician
A doctor with specialized knowledge who’s brought in to advise on a case—especially helpful when complex medical needs arise.
Continuous Home Care
A Medicare-covered hospice service that provides short-term, 24-hour support at home for symptom crises.
Coordination of Care
A team-based approach where all healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, social workers, etc.) work together to create a seamless care plan.
Culturally Competent Care
Healthcare that respects and adapts to patients’ cultural, spiritual, and personal beliefs. Everyone deserves to be understood and treated with dignity.
Dexamethasone
A powerful steroid used to reduce inflammation, ease pain, improve appetite, and help with nausea—commonly used in palliative care.
Diagnosis
The official identification of a disease or condition based on symptoms, exams, and test results.
DNR / AND (Do Not Resuscitate / Allow Natural Death)
An order to not attempt CPR or life-saving measures if the heart or breathing stops. “Allow Natural Death” focuses on dignity and comfort at life’s end.
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order
A physician-signed document that tells healthcare providers not to perform CPR if breathing or heartbeat stops.
Durable Medical Equipment (DME)
Reusable equipment like hospital beds, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, or walkers—often provided to patients receiving home care or hospice.
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
A legal document naming someone you trust to make medical decisions if you’re no longer able to do so.
Dysphagia
Difficulty swallowing, common in advanced illness. It can lead to malnutrition or aspiration.
Dyspnea
Trouble breathing or shortness of breath. Often treated with medications, oxygen, or comfort positioning in hospice.
Edema
Swelling caused by fluid buildup in tissues, often seen in the legs, feet, or hands near the end of life.
Election of Hospice
The process of choosing hospice care and formally enrolling, including signing consents and having a doctor certify eligibility.
End-of-Life Care
Specialized care focused on comfort, dignity, and quality of life during a person’s final months, weeks, or days.
Feeding Tube
A device used to provide nutrition when someone can’t eat by mouth. In hospice, whether to place a feeding tube is a thoughtful, often emotional decision.
Four Levels of Hospice Care
Medicare defines four types:
General Inpatient (GIP) Care
Hospital-based hospice care for managing pain or symptoms that can’t be controlled at home.
Grief
The deep sorrow felt after losing someone. It’s personal, unpredictable, and a normal part of the healing process.
Haldol (Haloperidol)
A medication used to ease agitation, nausea, or delirium—common at end of life. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Healthcare Proxy
Another name for a medical power of attorney—the person you name to make medical decisions for you if you can’t speak for yourself.
Holistic Services
Supportive therapies like music, massage, pet visits, or Reiki that support emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being.
Home Care
Assistance and support provided to individuals in their own homes, helping with daily tasks, personal care, and sometimes medical needs.
Home Hospice Care
When hospice services are provided wherever the patient lives—most commonly in the home, but can also occur in a nursing home, long term care facility, or hospital room. View Samaritan’s at-home hospice care services in New Jersey.
Hospice
A model of care for people with a life expectancy of six months or less, focusing on quality of life rather than cure. Care is typically provided by a team and covered by Medicare.
Hospice Aide
A trained caregiver who helps with bathing, grooming, toileting, and other personal care.
Hospice Care Team
A group that includes nurses, doctors, social workers, spiritual support counselors, aides, music and massage therapists, volunteers, and others working together to support the patient and family. View Samaritan’s hospice care team members here.
Hospice Discharge
When a patient improves or no longer meets eligibility for hospice, they may be discharged from care.
Hospice Eligibility
To qualify for hospice under Medicare, two doctors must certify that the patient has a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its natural course. The two doctors may consist of the patient’s physician as well as a hospice medical director. Learn more about hospice eligibility criteria here.
Hospice Volunteer
A trained individual who donates time to support patients and families—through companionship, errands, or help in the office. Learn about becoming a hospice volunteer at Samaritan here.
Hospice vs. Palliative Care
Palliative care addresses the symptoms and stress of serious illness, can begin at any stage of illness, and may accompany treatment. Hospice care focuses on the months leading up to the end of life, when a patient has chosen to stop treatment. Learn more about hospice vs. palliative care here.
Hydration
The process of supplying fluids to the body—by mouth, feeding tube, or IV. In hospice, hydration decisions depend on comfort and quality of life. Learn more about hospice nutrition and hydration here.
Informed Consent
An agreement to treatment made after a patient understands the risks, benefits, and alternatives.
Inpatient Hospice
A dedicated facility providing full-time hospice care in a comfortable, homelike setting. View Samaritan’s inpatient hospice center locations in Voorhees and Mount Holly, NJ.
Intubation
Placing a tube into the windpipe to assist with breathing—often avoided in hospice to prioritize comfort.
Life-Prolonging Treatment
Medical interventions like ventilation, dialysis, or feeding tubes that are meant to extend life rather than improve comfort.
Living Will
A legal document that outlines what kinds of medical treatment you would or wouldn’t want if seriously ill and unable to communicate. View Five Wishes – a living will document here.
Long-Term Care
Ongoing care provided over months or years for chronic health conditions, often in nursing homes or assisted living.
Lorazepam (Ativan)
A medication used for anxiety, restlessness, or nausea—common in end-of-life symptom relief. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Medical Director
A physician who oversees all medical aspects of a hospice program and helps guide patient care plans.
Medicare Hospice Benefit
Medicare coverage that pays 100% for approved hospice services for eligible patients. View Medicare Hospice Benefits here.
Methadone
An opioid used to manage severe pain. It’s long acting and can be effective when other pain meds stop working. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Mottled Skin
Blotchy, purplish skin—usually on hands or feet—that indicates slowing circulation. Common as the body begins to shut down.
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
Pain-relieving meds like ibuprofen or naproxen. They’re sometimes used in hospice for mild-to-moderate pain or inflammation. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Opioids
A class of medications used to treat pain, including morphine, fentanyl, and oxycodone. Widely used in palliative care for comfort. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Palliate
To relieve symptoms or discomfort without treating the root cause.
Palliative Care
Medical care that focuses on comfort, symptom relief, and quality of life for those with serious illness—offered at any stage, not just end-of-life. Learn more about palliative care here.
Patient’s Bill of Rights
A document outlining a patient’s rights while receiving care—like being treated with respect and being involved in their care decisions.
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)
A procedure to insert a feeding tube directly into the stomach through the abdominal wall.
Plan of Care (POC)
A personalized document that outlines the care a hospice patient wants to receive, updated regularly by the care team, patient, and family.
Power of Attorney (POA)
A legal document naming someone to make decisions for you—medical, financial, or both—if you’re unable.
Primary Attending Physician
Your main doctor who oversees your care and communicates with specialists or hospice teams.
Primary Care at Home
Primary care providers make house calls to help patients with limited mobility manage chronic health conditions, recover from medical events, coordinate specialist consultations, and more. View Samaritan’s at-home primary care services in New Jersey.
Primary Care Physician (PCP)
Your general doctor who handles everyday health needs and often refers you to specialists or palliative care.
Prochlorperazine
A medication that helps manage nausea and vomiting—frequently used in palliative care. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Prognosis
An estimate of how a disease is expected to progress and what outcomes may be likely.
Pruritis
A medical term for itching—sometimes a side effect of medications or illness.
Recertification
Every 60–90 days, hospice patients must be reassessed to confirm they still meet Medicare eligibility.
Referral
The process of recommending someone for hospice or palliative care. It’s often the first step toward getting evaluated. Refer a patient to Samaritan in New Jersey here.
Registered Nurse Case Manager
A hospice nurse who coordinates the patient’s care plan, manages medications, and educates families.
Respite Care
Short-term care (usually 5 days) in a facility to give caregivers a break. Covered by Medicare under the hospice benefit.
Resuscitation
A medical attempt to restart breathing or heartbeat when someone’s heart stops—can include CPR or electric shock.
Routine Home Hospice Care
The standard hospice level of care—regular visits by the care team at the patient’s home. Learn more about at-home hospice care from Samaritan here.
Roxanol (Morphine Sulfate)
A liquid form of morphine given to ease severe pain or breathing trouble at end-of-life. Learn more about common hospice medications here.
Spiritual Support Counselor
A spiritual counselor who supports patients and families of all faiths—or none—with emotional and spiritual care. Learn about how spiritual support counselors help hospice patients here.
Subacute Care
Short-term rehabilitation, usually after a hospital stay, provided in a skilled nursing facility.
Symptom
Any physical or emotional sign of illness—like pain, fatigue, or shortness of breath.
Terminal Illness
An incurable condition that is expected to result in death. Also known as a life-limiting illness, terminal illnesses are considered irreversible. Life expectancy can range from days to years.
Terminal Restlessness
A common sign near end-of-life—can include agitation, confusion, or fidgeting. Often treated with medications and calming care.
Ventilator
A machine that helps someone breathe. In hospice, the decision to use or stop ventilation is based on comfort and quality of life.
Ventilator Withdrawal
The planned removal of ventilation when it no longer aligns with a patient’s goals of care.
Veterans Benefits
Additional resources and care services available for U.S. military veterans, including special hospice support through the VA. Learn more about hospice care for veterans in South Jersey here.
Social Worker
A hospice team member who supports emotional and psychosocial needs, helps with resources, and assists in care planning. Learn more about hospice social workers here.