District nurses' experiences of providing palliative care in the home: An interview study

Abstract

The trend shows that more people are choosing to die at home. Since at home palliative care is often provided by district nurses, their work will be affected, and the burden will increase. The aim of this study was to illuminate district nurses' experiences of providing palliative care in the home. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 district nurses. The interviews were analyzed according to the qualitative content analysis methods that Graneheim and Lundman describe. Findings consist of three main categories with nine subcategories. The conclusion is that collaboration with others is essential. Providing palliative care in the home is both emotionally rewarding and demanding, and the work is additionally time and expertise consuming. District nurses want more resources and organizational changes, such as access to doctors and a palliative home care team who only work with these patients. This would be an advantage both for district nurses and the patients.