The specialist palliative care nurse: a qualitative study of the patients' perspective.
BACKGROUND
Relatively little is known about patients' perceptions of the work and role of the specialist palliative care nurse. Understanding the patients' perspective can help to evaluate services, improve quality of care, and identify misunderstandings.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the experiences of those who said that they had a 'terminal illness', focusing on patients' perceptions of the work and role of these nurses.


METHODS
Qualitative study with narrative interviews.


METHODS
England and Wales.


METHODS
Forty-one people recruited through those working in hospices, community nurses, general practitioners, support groups, a national newspaper, and a conference on palliative care. Twenty-five people talked about the work of specialist palliative care nurses.


METHODS
Interviews were fully transcribed; followed by a thematic analysis with constant comparison.


RESULTS
Patients valued the nurses' work, particularly their advice on practical matters, information given about their disease, emotional support, advice on symptoms, and help with communication. They were glad that help was readily available. However, some patients who had been referred to the service did not realise that specialist palliative care nurses may be involved at a relatively early stage in a person's illness, and sometimes felt distressed by an early referral. One woman felt she had not had the emotional support she needed and another knew of women who had been upset because these nurses had discussed topics such as place of death 'too early'. However, people recognised the difficulties nurses faced in their work.


CONCLUSIONS
Although our study differs from other studies, particularly in the way people were recruited, our findings support previous studies that have shown that specialist palliative care nurses are highly valued by those who have a terminal illness. It is important for people to understand that these nurses may be involved from the time of diagnosis and that roles have changed.
Chapple
Alison
A
Department of Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford, UK. alison.chapple@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
Ziebland
Sue
S
McPherson
Ann
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000458:organization & administration*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*; D014852:Wales