Palliative care nurses and mental health nurses: sharing common ground?

Abstract

This article arose out of discussions, in a higher education setting, concerning the roles of palliative care nurses and mental health nurses; mental health nursing students frequently argue that they engage in the key principles of palliative care. This led the authors to consider the students’ arguments more fully and explore the relevant theoretical and empirical literature in palliative care and mental health nursing in order to substantiate or refute the claims put forward. This article examines the needs of palliative care patients and mental health patients and considers the core areas of similarity and difference between the roles of registered general nurses and mental health nurses. As a result, the authors urge palliative care managers to consider the arguments put forward with a view to redressing the current imbalance concerning the employment of registered mental health nurses in palliative care settings.

“No Right Place to Die”

“…Additionally, safety issues were expressly discussed by palliative care nurses as they related to difficult family situations, as well as for individual patients. Safety issues can have a major (negative) impact on hospice and palliative care units where open access for family and friends of patients is an important factor (Black, Hanson, Cutcliffe, & Goward, 2001; Bloomer & O’Brien, 2013) The shared value of both groups of nurses in the importance of the therapeutic relationship made this struggle with relating to difficult family situations more poignant.…”