Integrating palliative care into daily practice: a nursing perspective.

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Nursing Assessment
• Healthcare Education

Background:

• Traditional healthcare education emphasizes curative care, often delaying palliative care until the end of life.
• This delay results in unaddressed patient goals and wishes, burdening families and providers.
• Current models inadequately integrate palliative care from diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the essential elements of a comprehensive nursing palliative care assessment (PCA).
• To advocate for the integration of palliative care principles throughout the course of life-threatening illnesses.
• To highlight the role of nursing assessment in facilitating quality palliative care.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature and best practices in palliative care assessment.
• Focus on the components of a nursing palliative care assessment.
• Discussion of the applicability to all healthcare professionals.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive nursing palliative care assessment (PCA) is crucial for identifying and honoring patient and family goals.
• Early and ongoing palliative care assessment improves patient care.
• The PCA serves as a tool for self-reflection and practice evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Integrating palliative care early in the disease trajectory is essential for quality care.
• Nursing assessment is a key facilitator for establishing and honoring patient goals in palliative care.
• The PCA framework supports the continuous improvement of palliative care delivery across disciplines.