This major new textbook in palliative care nursing draws together the principles and evidence that underpins practice to support nurses working in specialist palliative care settings and those whose work involves end-of-life care. Written by a team of experienced palliative care nurses, the book draws upon extensive expertise in palliative care research, education and scholarship. Using a novel organising framework - the trajectory of illness model - the book is structured around three main sections: Encountering illness Approaching death Experiencing loss and bereavement. Moving beyond an approach based on a traditional model of palliative care involving physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of care, this book takes a more holistic, person-centred approach with suggestions as to how nursing interventions may encompass a socially-embedded approach to care. The final section addresses professional issues in nursing and inter-professional working.

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Encountering illness Overview History, gender and culture in the rise of palliative care What's in a name?: a concept analysis of key terms in palliative care nursing User involvement and palliative care: rhetoric or reality? Referral patterns and access into specialist palliative care Acute hospital care Transitions in status from wellness to illness, illness to wellness: coping with recurrence and remission Communication, the patient and the palliative care team Approaches to assessment in palliative care Part 2: Transitions into the terminal phase Overview Good for the soul?: the spiritual dimension of hospice and palliative care Working with difficult symptoms Pain: theories, evaluation and management Emotions and cognitions: psychological aspects of care Working with family caregivers in a palliative care setting Supporting families of terminally ill persons Social death: the impact of protracted dying No way in: including the excluded at the end of life Ethical issues at the end of life: a very short introduction The impact of socialization on the dying process Palliative care in institutions Part 3: Loss and bereavement Overview Nursing care at the time of death Organ and tissue donation: helping patients and families to make choices The care and support of bereaved people Bereavement support: the perspective of community nurses Risk assessment and bereavement services Bereavement support services Families and children facing loss and bereavement: childhood bereavement services - a diversity of models and practices Part 4: Contemporary issues Overview Professional boundaries in palliative care The cost of caring: surviving the culture of niceness, occupational stress and coping strategies Specialist professional education in palliative care: how did we get here and where are we going? Information and communication technology in nursing: current role and future scope Research and scholarship in palliative care nursing Developing expert palliative care nursing through research and practice development Policy, audit, evaluation and clinical governance Leading and managing nurses in a changing environment Conclusion Indexes.