title: Overcoming Barriers to Palliative Care Consultation.
abstract: Palliative care consultations for patients with life-threatening illnesses provide benefits for the patients and their families as well as for the health care team. Patients have better quality of life and live longer but cost the health care system less. Still, many patients are not offered the opportunity to receive a palliative care consultation. Barriers to palliative care consultation for patients in critical care units include misunderstandings about palliative care and not having agreed upon criteria for referral. Critical care nurses can assist in overcoming these barriers.
authors.affiliation: Kathleen Perrin is a professor of nursing at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire, where she teaches critical care nursing and understanding suffering.Mary Kazanowski is certified as a palliative care nurse practitioner. She works on the palliative care team for Elliot Hospital, Manchester, New Hampshire, and at Visiting Nurses Association Hospice of Manchester and Southern New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire. rksperrin@aol.com.
authors.forename: Kathleen Ouimet
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.affiliation: Kathleen Perrin is a professor of nursing at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire, where she teaches critical care nursing and understanding suffering.Mary Kazanowski is certified as a palliative care nurse practitioner. She works on the palliative care team for Elliot Hospital, Manchester, New Hampshire, and at Visiting Nurses Association Hospice of Manchester and Southern New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazanowski
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D064648:Critical Care Nursing; D003469:Culture; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation