The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) estimates that as of 2024, 13 million Americans are living with a serious illness that could benefit from palliative care. This number is anticipated to grow with the aging population. Palliative care nurses provide comfort and treatment, including hospice care, to patients with critical conditions.
Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is dedicated to empowering students to alleviate suffering and make a tangible difference in their communities as a fundamental part of their education. Our Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program features a comprehensive nursing curriculum that combines online coursework with in-person skills labs and clinical rotations. Students learn the functional and emotional skills to be effective nurses.
This training is especially vital for candidates considering palliative care positions. Let’s explore palliative care and where it can take your nursing career.
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Understanding Palliative Nursing
Like many nurses, palliative nurses have the privilege of offering compassionate care to patients and their families during difficult times. These nurses help relieve pain and offer comfort to critically ill patients.
What Is Palliative Care?
As a palliative care nurse, your main objective is to provide treatment to patients experiencing significant chronic and sometimes acute illnesses that affect life-functioning, such as kidney failure or dementia. These nurses are frequently required to support patients’ families with practical advice and assistance in end-of-life care planning.
Palliative care nurses can work in various environments, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and even patients’ homes. Hospice care, for example, is a type of palliative care offered to patients with a terminal prognosis of less than six months. Hospice care nurses may deliver treatment in assisted living facilities, in-hospital hospice units, patients’ homes, and free-standing hospice facilities.
Core Responsibilities of Palliative Care Nurses
Palliative care nursing can serve individuals across the lifespan. These nurses can provide curative care to patients undergoing aggressive treatment or relief and comfort to patients no longer seeking recovery. For instance, cancer patients may still receive chemotherapy treatments during palliative care.
Some key duties of palliative care nurses include:
- Administering medications
- Alleviating symptoms with treatment
- Educating and advising on patients’ conditions
- Monitoring and managing pain
- Providing emotional support to patients and their families
Learn about alternative careers for nurses and the diverse opportunities for those with a nursing degree.
Challenges of Palliative Care Nursing
As a palliative care nurse, you will work with patients and their families through emotional and physical hardship. In addition to alleviating patients’ physical pain, you might help them navigate their emotional response to their situation by providing education and clarity. This could include answering questions about an illness or just offering a listening ear.
How Palliative Nurses Make a Difference
Palliative care nurses improve the quality of life of their patients by addressing pain and physical, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns. According to the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, research shows that early palliative care improved symptom control and survival rates in patients with advanced cancer, resulting in a call for palliative care to start upon diagnosis of critical illnesses.
The Center to Advance Palliative Care also reports that palliative care reduces readmission and ICU induction rates, saving money for patients and health care institutions. They cite that patients can save 9% to 25% per inpatient stay, thanks to a shortened length of admission and reduced daily costs.
Preparing for a Career in Palliative Nursing
Your journey begins with earning your nursing degree. Once you've got that, you can gain valuable experience and explore special certifications or even advanced degrees in palliative nursing.
Discover the differences between an ABSN vs. BSN and learn which is right for you.
Educational Pathways and Certifications
To become a palliative care nurse, you can start with either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. While both paths can lead to this fulfilling career, it's worth noting that many employers prefer BSN-educated nurses. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) highlights that BSN-prepared nurses often contribute to lower mortality rates and better patient outcomes, making the BSN a strong foundation for this specialized field.
Accelerated BSN programs, like the one at PLU, can help you earn your nursing degree in as few as 16 months. Located near Seattle, our program enables students who meet our requirements —those with 60 non-nursing college credits or a non-nursing bachelor’s degree —to gain a comprehensive nursing education, sit confidently for the NCLEX-RN examination, and become competent nurses.
After obtaining licensure, you should obtain at least two years of experience in an acute care or critical care setting, such as an emergency room or intensive care unit, before pursuing a palliative care role. Building health care experience in these specialties will help you develop the nursing and emotional skills to care for critically ill patients.
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center also offers several certifications in hospice and palliative care for professionals in various specialties, including those in advanced roles.
Begin Your Nursing Journey at Pacific Lutheran University
Ready to become a nurse? At Pacific Lutheran University, we're committed to helping you achieve your goals of becoming a nurse who practices evidence-driven care. You'll find strong support here, from academic success coaches and our dedicated faculty. Prior to admission, our admissions representatives work one-on-one with candidates to ensure they submit the best possible application.
Contact an admissions representative to start your application today.