The nurse practitioner role is ideally suited for palliative care practice: A qualitative descriptive study

Carmel M. Collins, Sandra P. Small

Abstract


Palliative care (PC) is an approach to caring for individuals with life-threatening health conditions, with the focus being best quality of life (Hawley, 2017). It involves effective symptom management to address the physiological manifestations of diseases; interventions to promote the social, spiritual, and emotional well-being of patients and their families; and end-of-life (EOL) care to support patients’ greatest comfort and dignity when death is imminent (World Health Organization, 2011; Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance [WPCA], 2014). Palliative care is recommended not only for cancer, but for any chronic life-threatening condition; for example, heart and kidney failure and various neurological diseases (Hawley, 2017). With the high prevalence and expected growth of chronic diseases not only in Canada, but worldwide, the need for PC is great now and will become even more so in the future (Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association [CHPCA], 2014; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2016; WPCA, 2014). 


Full Text:

PDF

References


Ablett, J.R., & Jones, R.S.P. (2007). Resilience and well-being in palliative care staff: A qualitative study of hospice nurses’ experience of work. Psycho-Oncology, 16, 733–740. doi:10.1002/pon.1130

Bloomer, M.J., Endacott, R., O’Connor, M., & Cross, W. (2013). The ‘dis-ease’ of dying: Challenges in nursing care of the dying in the acute hospital setting. A qualitative observational study. Palliative Medicine, 27(8), 757–764. doi:10.1177/0269216313477176pmj.sagepub.com

Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. (2014). Fact sheet: Hospice palliative care in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.chpca.net/media/330558/Fact_Sheet_HPC_in_Canada%20Spring%202014%20Final.pdf

Canadian Nurse Practitioner Initiative. (2006). Nurse practitioners: The time is now—a solution to improving access and reducing wait times in Canada. Retrieved from http://docplayer.net/5707777-A-solution-to-improving-access-and-reducing-wait-times-in-canada.html

Canadian Nurses Association. (2016). The nurse practitioner: CNA position. Retrieved from https://www.cna-aiic.ca/~/media/cna/page-content/pdf-en/the-nurse-practitioner-position-statement_2016

Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians. (2016). How to improve palliative care in Canada: A call to federal, provincial, territorial, regional and local decision-makers. Retrieved from http://www.cspcp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Full-Report-How-to-Improve-Palliative-Care-in-Canada-FINAL-Nov-2016.pdf

Dahlin, C., Coyne, P.J., & Cassel, J.B. (2016). The advanced practice registered nurses palliative care externship: A model for primary health care education. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 19(7), 753–759. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0491

Deitrick, L.M., Rockwell, E.H., Gratz, N., Davidson, C., Lukas, L., Stevens, D., ... Sikora, B. (2011). Delivering specialized palliative care in the community: A new role for nurse practitioners. Advances in Nursing Science, 34(4), E23–E36. doi:10.1097/ANS.0b013e318235834f

Easter, A. (2000). Construct analysis of four modes of being present. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 18, 362–377. doi:10.1177/089801010001800407

Finfgeld-Connett, D. (2006). Meta-synthesis of presence in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 55(6), 708–714. doi:10.1111/j1365-2648.2006.03961.x

Graneheim, U.H., & Lundman, B. (2003). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nursing Education Today, 24, 105–112. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001

Hawley, P.H. (2014). The bow tie model of 21st century palliative care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 47(1), e2–25. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.10.009

Hawley, P. (2017). Barriers to access to palliative care. Palliative Care: Research and Treatment, 10, 1–6. doi:10.1177/1178224216688887

Kaasalainen, S., Ploeg, J., McAiney, C., Martin, L. S., Donald, F., Martin-Misener, R., ... Sangster-Gormley, E. (2013). Role of the nurse practitioner in providing palliative care in long-term care homes. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 19, 477–485. doi: 10.12968/ijpn.2013.19.10.477

Letizia, M., & Jones, T. (2012). An educational intervention for nurse practitioners providing palliative care in nursing homes. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 14, 351–357. Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=1359588

McMahon, M.A., & Christopher, K.A. (2011). Toward a mid-range theory of nursing presence. Nursing Forum, 46(2), 71–82. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2011.00215.x

Mitchell, G.K., Senior, H.E., Bibo, M.P., Makoni, B., Young, S.N., Rosenberg, J.P., & Yates, P. (2016). Evaluation of a pilot of nurse practitioner led, GP supported rural palliative care provision. BMC Palliative Care, 15(93). doi:10.1186/s12904-016-0163-y

O’Connor, M., Palfreyman, S., Le, B., & Lau, R. (2016). Establishing a nurse practitioner model to enhance continuity between palliative care settings. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 22(12), 581–585. Retrieved from http://www.magonlinelibrary.com/toc/ijpn/22/12

Osborn, C.L., & Townsend, C.H. (1997). Analysis of telephone communication between hospice nurses and a nurse practitioner group. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 9, 52–58. doi:10.1177/108482239700900513

Owens, D., Eby, K., Burson, S., Green, M., McGoodwin, W., & Isaac, M. (2011). Primary palliative care clinic pilot project demonstrates benefits of a nurse practitioner-directed clinic providing primary and palliative care. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24, 52–58. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7599.2011.00664.x

Paice, J.A., Ferrell, B.R., Virani, R., Grant, M., Molloy, P., & Rhome, A. (2006a). Graduate nursing education regarding end-of-life care. Nursing Outlook, 54, 46–52. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2005.04.003

Paice, J.A., Ferrell, B.R., Virani, R., Grant, M., Molloy, P., & Rhome, A. (2006b). Appraisal of the graduate end-of-life nursing education consortium training program. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 9, 353–360. doi:10.1089/jpm.2006.9.353

Parse, R.R. (1992). Human Becoming: Parse’s theory of nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 35–42. doi:10.1177/089431849200500109

Paterson, J.G., & Zderad, L.T. (1978). Humanistic Nursing. New York: National League for Nursing.

Public Health Agency of Canada. (2016). How healthy are Canadians? A trend analysis of the health of Canadians from a healthy living and chronic disease perspective. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Health. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/publications/healthy-living/how-healthy-canadians/pub1-eng.pdf

Sandelowski, M. (2000). Whatever happened to qualitative description? Research in Nursing and Health, 23, 334–340. doi:10.1002/1098-240X(200008)

Sitzman, K., & Watson, J. (2014). Caring science, mindful practice: Implementing Watson’s human caring theory. New York: Springer.

Tyree, T.L., Long, C.O., & Greenberg, E.A. (2005). Nurse practitioners and end-of-life care: Beliefs, practices, and perceptions. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 7, 45–51. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/jhpn

Wallerstedt. B., & Andershed, B. (2007). Caring for dying patients outside special palliative care settings: Experiences from a nursing perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 21, 32–40. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2007.00430.x/full

Weigel, C., Parker, G., Fanning, L., Reyna, K., & Gasbarra, D.B. (2007). Apprehension among hospital nurses providing end-of-life care. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 9(2), 86–91. doi:10.1097/01.NJH.0000263530.37671.b8

Williams, D., & Sidani, S. (2001). An analysis of the nurse practitioner role in palliative care. Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, 14(4), 13–19. doi:10.12927/cjnl.2001.19131

Wong, S.L., Gilmour, H., & Ramage-Morin, P.L. (2016). Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Canada. Health Reports, 27(5), 11–16. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2016005/article/14613-eng.pdf

World Health Organization. (2011). Palliative care for older people: Better practices. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/107290/1/e95052.pdf

Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance. (2014). Global atlas on palliative care at the end of life. Retrieved from http://www.thewhpca.org/resources/global-atlas-on-end-of-life-care


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share