Community palliative care clinical nurse specialists: a descriptive study of nurse-patient interactions

With an ageing population and changes to the UK process of commissioning health-care services, it is important that the role of the community palliative care clinical nurse specialist (CPC-CNS) is better understood.

This study aimed to describe CPC-CNS activities during interactions with patients.

Four CPC-CNSs were observed and audio-recorded during interactions with 34 patients. The data was assessed qualitatively using thematic analysis.

An enormous breadth of activities were observed, within a framework of assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation. Cross-cutting themes were real-time decision making, leadership, ability to respond to and coordinate complex and varied situations, and communication techniques. Data saturation was not achieved.

CPC-CNSs provide multifaceted care, requiring wide-ranging knowledge to enable them to act as liaison points in a complex health service, respond independently to the fluctuating needs of patients, and provide effective advance care planning, particularly to those with advanced disease, multi-morbidity, and frailty.