Being the asset in palliative care

Palliative and end of life care aim to provide the best available care for people entering the dying phase of their life. This care and support also extends to families and close friends or those deemed important by the person who is dying. Two years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the way palliative care is provided by making it hard to remain truly close to dying people because of social distancing and the need to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). While these measures were necessary to save lives, they were a disruption to the proximity that usually existed between the staff and patients, and the patients and their close family units. On a practical level, it is clear that one of the negative legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic, is a trail of shortage of staff and a depleted workforce as a result of staff deaths, or the effect of long-Covid. It is therefore important that an appraisal be done regarding the role and input of community nurses who provide palliative care, highlighting some of the positive aspects of the support to dying people.