Forensic nursing and the palliative approach to care: an empirical nursing ethics analysis

A movement is underway to promote a palliative approach to care in all contexts where people age and live with life-limiting conditions, including psychiatric settings. Forensic psychiatry nursing-a subfield of mental health nursing- focuses on individuals who are in conflict with the criminal justice system. We know little about the values of nurses working in forensic psychiatry, and how these values might influence a palliative approach to care for frail and aging patients.

Interviews with four nurses working on one of two forensic units of a university-affiliated mental health hospital in an urban area of eastern Canada.

Three specific values were found to guide forensic nurses in their care of aging patients that are commensurate with a palliative approach: hope, inclusivity, and quality of life.

When we started this project, we wondered whether the culture of forensic nursing practice was antithetical to the values of a palliative approach. Instead, we found several parallels between forensic nurses' moral identities and palliative philosophy. These findings have implications for how we think about the palliative approach in contexts not typically associated with palliative care, but in which patients will increasingly age and die.