Palliative medicine--part 2.

With the recent release of the report from The Institute of Medicine regarding terminal patients, palliative medicine could receive much needed attention among medical specialties in the form of improving education, advanced research, and improved reimbursements. Thus, we continue our two-part series on palliative medicine. In this section, we discuss the assessment and management of symptoms like constipation, nausea/vomiting, hypercalcemia, and hydration.