Jun 25, 2020
This episode features Minna Hökkä (Research Unit of Nursing
Science and Health Management, Medical Department, Oulu University,
Oulu, Finland).
Palliative care is provided across a wide range of healthcare
settings, from tertiary hospitals to primary care. It has been
recognized that palliative care services should be delivered
in at least two or three levels (i.e., palliative care approach,
generalist palliative care, specialist palliative care).
All healthcare professionals should have the appropriate education
and competencies to provide high-quality palliative care. Nurses
have an important role in the provision of palliative care in all
levels.
This systematic integrative review is the first to focus on
empirical studies defining the core competencies of palliative care
nursing aligned with the different levels of palliative care
provision.
The results show that both the distinct levels of palliative care
provision and corresponding palliative care nursing competencies
are rarely defined.
Rather than describing which core nursing competencies are the
most related to each level of palliative care, previous research
has concentrated on identifying the diverse competencies
necessary for different specific settings and how they can be
categorized in different aspects of nursing
(e.g., competencies related to patient–nurse
relationship).
Nurses with a specialized or advanced nurse practitioner role in
palliative care have extended clinical competencies, which include
the ability to provide informal education and guidance to
colleagues.
Nursing competencies in palliative care, especially the ones that
are more relevant to each level of palliative care provision,
should be better outlined to enhance palliative care
development, education and practice.
Further research that addresses how nursing competencies differ
across the levels of palliative care provision is needed.
Full paper available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269216320918798
If you would like to record a podcast about your published (or
accepted) Palliative Medicine paper, please contact Dr
Amara Nwosu: a.nwosu@lancaster.ac.uk