intervention of the palliative care consultation team: starring a general nurse

Abstract

 General nurses, particularly those in palliative care, play a pivotal role in patient and family care. This study, conducted at the Department of Palliative Medicine, General University Hospital and 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, focuses on the role of general nurses within the palliative care consultation team. By conducting a descriptive analysis of the interventions performed by nurses during 2022, it maps the activities of nurses and identifies their primary roles in this specific context. The results show that nurses were involved in more than half of all interventions, and 75 % performed independently. The most common interventions were values-based history-taking and need assessment, with nurses' prominent roles including communication, care coordination, advocacy, and patient education. The results demonstrate the expansion of nurses' competencies in palliative care, underscoring the urgent need for specialized education and training. This is crucial to improve the quality of care provided in hospitals. The study also emphasizes the need to integrate these skills into undergraduate education, further highlighting the importance of this issue.