Clinical Experience of Nurses in a Consultative Hospice Palliative Care Service.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to employ Colaizzi's phenomenological research method to elucidate and understand the essence of practical experiences among consultative hospice palliative care nurses working in hospice institutions.

Methods: The participants in the study were 15 consultative hospice palliative care nurses with over 1 year of work experience in institutions located in S City, I City, and K Province in South Korea. Data were collected from 23 in-depth interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological qualitative method.

Results: The practical experiences of consultative hospice palliative nurses were categorized into five categories, 10 theme clusters, and 25 themes. The five categories included "being aware of patients' situations at the time of transition to hospice palliative care," "empathizing with patients and their families by putting oneself in the other's shoes," "providing patient and family-centered end-of-life care," "experiencing difficulties in practical tasks," and "striving to improve hospice service quality."

Conclusion: This study is significant in that it provides practical data for understanding the experiences of consultative hospice palliative care nurses caring for terminally ill patients. This could enhance our understanding of care solutions that effectively tackle the challenges consultative hospice palliative care nurses encounter while fulfilling their roles.