Characteristics of palliative nursing and difficulties experienced by the hospice nurses: a qualitative research

Abstract

Objective To explore the working characteristics and difficulties of hospice nurses and provide reference for improvement of palliative care practice. Methods By purposive sampling, 10 nurses from a cancer specialist hospital and a community hospital in Beijing were selected and interviewed by semi-structured in-depth interviewing method and the interview data was analyzed by Colaizzi method. Results The palliative nurses need patience and detailed mind, sympathy, compassion and empathy; the working characteristics of nursing included establishing trust, all the way accompany; palliative nursing and nurses have mutual influences: while getting the self-improved and sense of accomplishment, nurses' psychological burden was heavy and needed psychological adjustment; the palliative nurses faced difficulties such as unsuccessful communication with patients and their family members, lacking in relevant knowledge, misunderstanding from the colleagues and short of medical resources. Conclusions Hospitals should strengthen the emotional adjustment support for the palliative nurses and to relieve the nurses from stress and negative affect; the government and hospitals should strengthen the propaganda of palliative care so that the citizens can better understand and accept palliative care. Key words: Nurses; Palliative care; Working experience; Qualitative research