Exploring the role of sexuality and intimacy in palliative care: a need for holistic support

Thoughts on assisted dying: ethical, practical and moral perspectives

The ultimate paradox: navigating the personal and professional contradictions of assisted dying

In terms of the ethical challenges encountered by nurses in assisted dying, lessons can be learnt from other countries where medically assisted death has been legalised, such as Canada, New Zealand...

Providing effective dying symptom control at home

Dying at home is idealised in policy and clinical discourse as a way people can be in a comforting space for their last days of life, surrounded by loved ones, free from pain and distress. However, a...

Sexual bereavement: a forgotten concept

The death of a partner can lead to sexual loss, grief and bereavement. Adults aged over 65 years make up between 34–48% of widowed adults across the globe (Radosh and Simkin, 2016); these individuals...

Trainee district nurses' understanding and perceptions of the palliative care key worker role: a qualitative study

There is a gap in the evidence base, which explores trainee district nurses' views of the palliative care key worker role they adopt upon qualification. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design...

Disadvantaged dying in palliative care

It remains true that strongly held religious and cultural beliefs can prevent people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds from accessing palliative care. However, it also remains true...

Preparing healthcare students for palliative care is essential

The World Health Organization (WHO) is clear about what constitutes palliative care and its goals: ‘Palliative care is a crucial part of integrated, people-centred health services. Relieving serious...

What influences specialist palliative care nurses working in a community setting to engage with research?

A total of eight participants were interviewed from two charitable specialist care organisations. All participants were female and Caucasian. They had been working in their present roles for 1–13...

Reflecting on the ‘Palliative care’ column

This is my 200th palliative care column for the Mark Allen Group of journals, with the bulk of them written for the British Journal of Community Nursing. In this article, I want to reflect on the...

Exploring the delivery of end-of-life care by community nurses

Community nursing services across the UK have faced unprecedented pressures both before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, including the provision of palliative and EOLC (Mitchell et al, 2021)....

When death is part of us: challenges for community nursing

The literature is full of strategies to support families and close friends during and after death. For example, one modern approach is the Dual Process Model for coping with bereavement developed by...