What do community palliative care nurse specialists do? An activity analysis

Abstract

A self-assessed activity analysis of a team of community palliative care nurse specialists was undertaken as part of a wider review of their service. Although it was not a research project, it proved to be a pragmatic and worthwhile means of analysing the work of individual nurse specialists and measuring what they actually do. The results and outcomes are presented in order to share the experience and to break down some of the isolation of community palliative nursing practice. The study found quite wide variations in practice between the individual nurse specialists but that most spent a high proportion of their time on clinical work at the expense of other aspects of the nurse specialist role, such as education, research and audit. It also found that most of the nurse specialists worked many more than their contracted hours and took very few breaks during the working day. The study promoted discussion within the team, changes have been introduced and the study will be repeated in two years' time.

Nursing activities for health promotion in palliative home care: an integrative review

“…This activity aims to provide information to caregivers, shed light on incorrect information about care or delegate some degree of care. 23 , 41 , 47 , 57 , 59 , 62 , 67 , 69 , 73 , 79 , 85 , 90 The nurse may teach basic care practices, key monitoring activities or techniques for administering medication. Teaching to caregivers is frequently described as an activity that empowers the individuals to act towards their goals or intended future.…”

“…For the patient, the activities identified are mainly generic without going into detail about their nature. 42 , 47 , 52 , 55 , 60 , 68 , 72 , 74 , 79 , 82 , 89 , 90 However, some nursing activities for emotional support are specifically identified, including focused conversations and active listening. 48 , 52 , 54 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 69 , 72 , 75 , 76 , 78 , 80 , 81 , 83 , 84 , 88 , 89 This emotional support activity makes it possible to clarify the patient’s thoughts and goals, particularly with regard to the advance care planning, preferred place of death, preparation of the inheritance and bequests, the desired involvement of caregivers and the resources available.…”

Use of dependency and prioritization tools by clinical nurse specialists in palliative care: an exploratory study

“…Although the number of telephone calls was included as an extra variable (for both tools), the duration of calls could not be recorded and this was considered an important omission by participants. Newbury et al (2008) examined a range of activities within clinical contact time and found that, on average, 6.2% and 6.4% of the work schedule of CNSs was spent respectively on telephone calls with other professionals and on telephone calls with patients and their families. This is an important finding as the time spent on phone calls is often overlooked in other studies of nursing care.…”