Examining the value and roles of palliative care nurse practitioners: A scoping review

Palliative care (PC) focuses on optimizing the quality of life for people of all ages with life-limiting illnesses. To date, Nurse Practitioner (NP)-led PC services are not common in Canada and other countries. This scoping review examined published research literature to determine the potential value and roles of NPs in relation to planning and providing PC. Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and SCOPUS databases were searched (all years, to an end date of January 2022) to reveal peer-reviewed, English-language research and review articles. A total of 18 published research and review articles were identified. These described the PC NP role as unique with high-level, advanced assessment and diagnostic skills, and with PC NPs having the potential to optimize PC provision in numerous settings. These articles also revealed NPs can enhance the quality of PC and improve access to PC services at a reduced cost. Moreover, NPs were more likely and able to address PC psychosocial needs and improve care coordination. The review findings indicate PC education for all NPs and education about NP roles for other health disciplines should be explored to expand PC NP positions as NP-led PC services could potentially improve access to PC services and also raise the quality of PC services.