The nature and effects of palliative care nursing: Phases 1 – 3

This three-year project examined the degree of congruency between the perceptions of nurses, patients, and patients' families, in relation to the nature and effects of palliative nursing care. The project was undertaken in three phases, to ascertain respectively the perceptions of nurses, patients, and patients' families. The project's objectives were to: highlight potential and/or actual incongruencies in various perceptions of the nature and effects of palliative nursing care; increase nurses' awareness of the nature and effects of their practice, as perceived by patients and patients' families; facilitate conditions in which the respective parties can reconcile their incongruent perceptions; and generate practice strategies that foster the improvement of palliative nursing care.