The way forward: identifying palliative nursing research priorities within a hospice

This article presents how practice issues within a hospice were identified as a means of prioritizing areas for research and development. The Delphi technique was employed to facilitate nurses working in the hospice to participate in the study. Forty-six practice issues were identified by the nurses and prioritized as areas of research in the hospice. This enabled comparisons with other studies and the literature to be made. The identified research priorities were then utilized to structure a framework for practice development in the hospice which included the use of weekly nurse meetings, interest groups and nurses studying for degrees and diplomas in order to address systematically the practice issues and develop an evidence-based practice approach.