Cancer & palliative care in the Kenntnisprüfung
When cure is no longer the goal: relieving symptoms such as pain, dyspnoea and dry mouth, accompanying the phases of dying, talking with relatives – and respecting the advance directive (Patientenverfügung).
Content created with AI assistance from public clinical sources (RKI, AWMF) – may contain mistakes; if in doubt, your textbook is right
Translated from the German original, which is authoritative. The exam itself is in German.
Sample questions from exam preparation
What is the overriding goal of palliative care?
- Prolonging life by exhausting all therapies
- The best possible quality of life and symptom relief
- Curing the underlying disease despite the advanced stage
- Forgoing any therapy so as not to prolong dying
Explanation: Palliative does not mean “doing nothing more”, but consistent relief of pain, breathlessness, nausea and anxiety — quality of life takes priority over prolonging life.
How do you assess pain in a person with advanced dementia?
- With NRS self-assessment, repeated several times a day if necessary
- Without own observation, through the relatives’ account on admission
- With an observation scale such as BESD (facial expression, vocalisation, body language)
- Via pulse and blood pressure — if both rise, the person is definitely in pain
Explanation: When self-report is no longer possible, external assessment takes its place: BESD observes facial expression, breathing, vocalisation, body language and consolability. Untreated pain often shows itself as “restlessness”.
Key German terms for Cancer & palliative care
- die Palliativpflege / palliativ – palliative care
- kurativ vs. palliativ – curative vs. palliative
- die Lebensqualität – quality of life
- die Symptomkontrolle – symptom management
- das Schmerzassessment / die NRS-Skala – pain assessment / numeric rating scale
20 exam questions on Cancer & palliative care, plus case simulations with an AI examiner and graded feedback – practise until you feel confident.
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