Tools for Nurses in Palliative Care

Some books that may be of interest are listed here:

• Palliative Care Nursing: A guide to Practice (2nd edition 2003)
• Palliative Care Nursing: Principles and Evidence for Practice (3rd edition 2018)
• Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing (5th edition 2019)
• Hospice and Palliative Nursing: scope and standards of practice (2007)

Journals

Over the last decade there have been an increasing number of papers relevant to palliative care being published in more diverse journals.

Getting access to journals is not always easy. Some organisations or workplaces have subscriptions, with access via hard copy or via electronic access. Nurses who are studying at university will have access via the library there. University and Hospital librarians are a great resource and can help with searching for articles.

These journals have particular relevance for palliative care nursing:

• International Journal of Palliative Nursing (UK)
• Journal of hospice and Palliative Nursing (US)

CareSearch has a list of Specialist Palliative Care Journals

Websites

Websites are a great source for information and resources. However, before accessing information on a website it is important to check the quality and authority with which the information is provided.

Nursing organisations

• Palliative Care Nurses Australia (PCNA)
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation (HPNF) (US)
• Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (Nurses interest group)
• Hong Kong Hospice Nurses Association

Podcasts

The US Center to Advance Palliative Care has developed a website called ‘Get Palliative Care’. Here you can access podcasts from a series called 'A Quality Life', The podcasts relate to palliative care in America but much of what is said is relevant to Australia.

This podcast Living in the dark on plans for dying from the Radio National Law Report website is about Advance Directives. (May, 2013)

The two Hawke Centre lectures below, co-presented by the Palliative Care Council SA, explore the theme of improving the way end-of-life care is provided in hospitals:

• Who cares? The role of communities at the end of life with Professor Roderick Macleod, University of Sydney Australia, presented July 2013.
  Professor Macleod identifies ways in which we can improve patients’ end-of-life care so that they feel valued, heard and respected. He outlines how we can reduce the reliance on clinical care and increase community input to make us a more compassionate community.


• What is the 'end of life' and how should we respond? with Professor Michael Ashby, University of Tasmania, Australia, presented October 2012.
  Professor Ashby provides a detailed overview of international end-of-life care ideas and trends, and shares his personal experiences of delivering clinical palliative care services across three Australian states. He explores the idea of ‘healthy dying’, that is how we can prepare for death both inside the health sector and in the wider community.