When a patient is facing a terminal illness or an end-of-life journey, palliative care nurses become crucial for providing comfort, support, and a better quality of life. 

Palliative care is often misunderstood, as it is a specialised, interdisciplinary form of care with a number of definitions. So in this blog, Four Oaks Healthcare is exploring the role of palliative care nurses and sharing what they do to help patients and their families during this challenging time. 

Understanding Palliative Care

First things first, let’s understand palliative care. This form of care focuses on enhancing the quality of life for individuals facing serious illnesses, regardless of their life expectancy. It can be initiated at any stage of a person’s illness and can continue alongside curative medical treatments. 

The primary goals of palliative care are to alleviate pain and symptoms, provide emotional support, address spiritual needs, and enhance the patient’s quality of life and overall well-being. Since this form of care is usually directed towards terminally ill patients, palliative nursing doesn’t focus on making the patient “better”, though some take a multidisciplinary treatment approach, with medical care tied in.

With palliative care, a registered nurse will reside in the patient’s home, offering live-in care, to the patient so that they can stay in their familiar environment. Home comforts improve mental health and morale, both of which are paramount to care.

The Role of a Palliative Care Nurse

Palliative care nurses deliver compassionate and holistic care to patients and their families. These nurses have specialised knowledge and skills that enable them to provide comprehensive care tailored to individual needs. 

Let’s take a closer look at the different aspects of a palliative care nurse’s role.

What Do Palliative Care Nurses Do?

• Create a Care Plan

In the initial stage of palliative care, a care plan is developed in collaboration with other healthcare professionals, the patient, and their family. Palliative care nurses actively contribute to this process by assessing the patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and formulating an individualised care plan that can adapt as the illness progresses. These care plans generally take a holistic approach to the patient’s health, treating the person, not just the symptoms.

• Provide Emotional and Spiritual Support

A palliative care nurse understands that coping with a serious illness doesn’t only involve physical challenges: spiritual and emotional distress is important too. They provide empathetic support and counselling to patients and their family members, helping everyone navigate this difficult time.

• Help Patients Maintain Independence

Palliative care nurses work alongside physicians to promote patients’ independence and dignity. A palliative nurse will assist patients in maintaining their daily activities, providing support with personal care, and coordinating other carers if required. By doing so, they enable patients to continue living in their preferred environment for as long as possible.

• Collaborate and Coordinate

Palliative care teams take a multidisciplinary approach, and nurses play a vital role in collaborating with other healthcare professionals. They work closely with physicians, social workers, chaplains, and any other members of the care team to ensure comprehensive support for both physical and emotional distress. This collaboration ensures that, whether a patient has years to live or is approaching their last few weeks, their medical treatment and care are of the highest quality. 

• Offer End-of-Life Care

Not all palliative care patients are coming to the end of terminal illnesses, as some recieve palliative care just after they receive their diagnosis. Yet, palliative care nurses are well-versed in end-of-life care and provide compassionate support during this stage. They facilitate discussions about end-of-life preferences, arrange for inpatient care at hospitals or hospices if desired, and ensure that patients receive the necessary medical attention and comfort measures during this transition.

• Offer Bereavement Support

Palliative care is one of the few nursing services that extends beyond the patient’s passing. Palliative care nurses provide bereavement support to the patient’s family and friends for a period after the patient’s death. They offer counselling, resources, and emotional support to help individuals cope with their loss and adjust to life without their loved ones.

In Conclusion

Palliative care nursing is a lovely way to ensure that loved ones receive the support they need to improve their quality of life when dealing with an incurable illness. These fantastic nurses have expertise in symptom management, emotional support, and coordination of care, which makes a significant difference for patients and their families. 

By providing holistic care and addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients, palliative care nurses help individuals navigate their end-of-life journey with dignity, comfort, and compassion.

If you or a loved one are in need of specialised palliative care, do not hesitate to reach out to us or explore our care services online. We are always happy to provide support and improve the lives of those who need it.