Nurses in palliative care
Who they are, what they do and which devices they use: a research-based profile for recruiting this target group for MedTech and pharma projects.
Overview
Palliative care nurses accompany severely ill and dying people and their families in their particular life situation. The focus is on recognising and relieving distressing symptoms in order to maintain and improve quality of life. In addition to physical care, they provide psychological, social and spiritual support and accompany patients through the dying phase, the care of the deceased and bereavement. Communication, counselling and ethical and legal questions are part of the field, as is self-care. They work in acute hospitals, on palliative care units, in inpatient hospices, in residential care for older people and in home care.
Profession by country
Fields of use and typical tasks
Palliativ Care
Evidence from: DE, AT, CH
- Treat and accompany patients with pain, nausea, vomiting, breathlessness, anxiety, low mood and sleep disorders
- Contribute to discharge management and care planning for home, hospice or nursing facility
- Accompany dying patients on the unit when discharge is not possible
- Provide specialised palliative nursing with complementary approaches such as aromatherapy care
- Accompany and support relatives
- Care for incurably ill patients around the clock and respond to personal wishes
Specializations
Devices and systems they use
Who they work with
- Physicians specialised in palliative medicine
- Specialised outpatient palliative care teams
- Hospice teams
- General practitioners
- Social services and transition management
- Chaplaincy
- Psychological services
Frequently asked questions
Where do these nurses work?
In acute hospitals, on palliative care units, in inpatient hospices, in residential care for older people and in home care.
Which complaints are at the centre of care?
Distressing symptoms such as pain, breathlessness, nausea and vomiting, constipation or diarrhoea, loss of appetite as well as anxiety and restlessness.
Whom do they coordinate with for ongoing care?
With palliative care physicians, specialised outpatient palliative care teams, hospice teams, general practitioners and social transition services so that care continues at home, in a nursing home or in a hospice.
Does palliative nursing only start in the dying phase?
No, it begins at diagnosis once a cure is no longer possible.
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Related target groups
Same work area
Same specialty
Sources
- Berufsbegleitende Weiterbildung Pflegefachkraft in der Palliativversorgung, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Stabsstelle Bildungsstrategien in den Gesundheitsfachberufen (DE)
- Qualitätsanforderungen für Basisqualifikationen in Palliative Care und Palliativmedizin, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Palliativmedizin (DGP) und Deutscher Hospiz- und PalliativVerband (DHPV) (DE)
- Palliativstation und Palliativmedizinischer Dienst, Klinikum Fürth, Klinik für Gastroenterologie und Hämato-Onkologie (DE)
- Infoflyer Palliativstation, Uniklinik Köln, Zentrum für Palliativmedizin (DE)
- Flyer Interdisziplinäre Palliativstation, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Zentrum für Palliativmedizin (DE)
- Folder Palliativstation, Klinikum Klagenfurt am Wörthersee (KABEG), Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Schmerztherapie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin (AT)
- Informationsbroschüre palliativ-medizinische Abteilung, Inselspital Bern, Universitätskliniken für Medizinische Onkologie und Radio-Onkologie (CH)
- Patienteninformation Palliativstation, Kompetenzzentrum Palliative Care Mittelland, Spital Zofingen AG und Kantonsspital Aarau (CH)
- 42 CFR 418.56, Condition of participation: Interdisciplinary group, care planning, and coordination of services, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Wiedergabe der Bundesverordnung der Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) (US)
- HPNA Value Statement: The Value of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) (US)
- Cornerstone VNA Hospice Nurses Earn CHPN Certification, Cornerstone VNA (US)
- Palliative and Comfort Care Unit at UAB Hospital, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care (US)
- Hospice of the Piedmont Inpatient Unit, Virginia Navigator (veteransnavigator.org), Eintrag zu Hospice of the Piedmont (US)