A palliative care nurse treats patients with severe, often life-threatening conditions. They focus on symptom management, curative treatments, and emotional support, working with patients in outpatient or inpatient settings. Palliative care nurses benefit from compassion, attention to detail, active listening, emotional resilience, and a positive, friendly demeanor.
A palliative care nurse works with patients who have life-altering conditions. They provide support for chronic conditions and help patients manage symptoms, with the goal of improving both health and quality of life. This specialized care is delivered in addition to other care that the patient may receive from a primary physician or specialist.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a palliative care registered nurse (RN), consider entering the field sooner with Concordia University, St. Paul’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. CSP Global’s ABSN program is designed for career switchers and transfer students who are interested in switching to the nursing field.
Before applying to our ABSN program, look at what palliative care RNs do and how nursing and palliative care work together to empower patients. Then, explore the essential skills for this nursing specialty.
What Do Palliative Care Nurses Do?
A palliative care nurse’s primary mission is to provide support, comfort, and treatment for patients who are struggling with severe, chronic, and terminal illnesses. Some of the key responsibilities include:
- Administering medications and other treatments
- Coordinating care
- Educating patients and family caregivers
- Managing pain and other symptoms
- Offering emotional support to both patients and family caregivers
- Serving as a patient advocate
Explore the five steps for becoming an RN fast with an ABSN program.
Where Palliative Care Nurses Work and Who They Support
Palliative care RNs work in patients’ homes, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, such as nursing homes. They often work with elderly patients, although they can care for patients of nearly any age. This type of nurse may support patients suffering from a range of conditions, including:
- Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia
- Cancer
- Heart failure
- HIV/AIDS
- Kidney failure
- Lung diseases
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stroke
How Nursing and Palliative Care Work Together
Palliative nursing care integrates compassionate, skilled nursing care with a focus on symptom management and quality of life improvement for patients with complex health concerns. A palliative care team may include nurses, physicians, specialists, social workers, and other professionals who are skilled at managing various aspects of serious illnesses.
It’s common for patients to receive palliative nursing care along with other types of care to treat their condition. For example, patients with cancer may work with a palliative care RN, an oncologist, and a radiology team. They may receive chemotherapy at a clinic while receiving palliative care at home for optimal symptom management.
Palliative Care vs. Hospice Nursing: Understanding the Difference
Palliative care is not the same as hospice care, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. While both specialties focus on symptom management, palliative care is curative in nature, meaning that patients are receiving treatments intended to cure their condition or manage it if the condition is incurable. In contrast, hospice care is not curative; patients receive treatments intended to manage their symptoms and maintain quality of life, but not to cure their disease.
Patients receiving palliative care may transition to hospice care. If a patient enters hospice care, treatment options are no longer available, and death is expected within six months. This timeframe is another key difference between palliative care and hospice care. Palliative care has no specific timeline. A patient may be diagnosed with a terminal illness and receive palliative care if they do not yet fit the criteria for hospice care.
Education and Certification Pathways for a Palliative Care Nurse
To become a palliative care nurse, you need to be a registered nurse (RN), preferably with a BSN. All RNs also need a nursing license, earned by meeting qualifications and passing the NCLEX-RN. Once you’ve gained experience in the field of palliative care nursing, you can choose to earn a specialty certification from the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center, which confers professional recognition for palliative care expertise.
If palliative nursing is your goal, the first step is earning your BSN from an accredited nursing program like our ABSN program at CSP Global. Offered with locations in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, our ABSN program enables students with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 54 non-nursing college credits to graduate with a BSN in as few as 16 months.
The ABSN program consists of four semesters of online nursing coursework, skills labs, and clinical learning experiences. The comprehensive curriculum will prepare you for the NCLEX-RN. Passing this licensure exam is essential for obtaining your nursing license.
Are accelerated nursing programs worth it? Consider these six things to see if it’s worthwhile for you.
Essential Skills for Success in Palliative Care Nursing
Palliative care RNs can benefit from a diverse range of soft skills. You’ll have opportunities to refine these skills throughout CSP’s ABSN program.
1. Compassion
Because palliative care nurses work with patients with complex diagnoses, they must approach patients with kindness and compassion. It’s essential to focus on the person behind the patient. Recognize and understand the patient’s feelings and emotions as they walk through their difficult journey. Your patients may be struggling with a challenging blend of grief, anger, fear, doubt, and hope, and you will deliver care through it all.
2. Friendliness and Active Listening
Palliative care nurses should maintain a friendly yet professional demeanor. They also need to know how to listen. Some patients may be looked after by family members, while others may be alone. Patients will appreciate when you take the time to converse with them and listen to their concerns, but this is especially true for those without family.
It can be more difficult for patients who are facing a life-altering or life-threatening condition while also feeling lonely and isolated. Palliative care RNs can care for their patients’ socioemotional wellness by ensuring patients feel heard and validated.
3. Attentiveness
Palliative care nurses need to be attentive to their patients’ needs and alert to any status changes in their health or symptoms. Attention to detail can support better symptom management, as nurses can make treatment adjustments as needed.
Attentiveness is particularly important when a patient is less communicative; some patients have trouble expressing what they are feeling. Lastly, attention to detail is helpful for recognizing emotion signals. An attentive nurse may recognize when a patient is feeling fearful or withdrawn and can take steps to support the patient’s mental health.
4. Positivity
During a challenging time for patients and families, palliative care RNs have the potential to bring joy and happiness to their patients’ lives. While manufactured positivity is unhelpful, genuine joy can be contagious and may improve a patient’s mood.
5. Emotional Resilience
Palliative care nursing can be difficult work. You will form close connections with patients who may ultimately pass away from their health conditions, and you will need to learn how to process those losses even as you’re providing emotional support to bereaved family members and other patients. Palliative nurses must be emotionally resilient in the face of difficult loss, and they know to lean on their support network when they’re grieving.
Career Growth and Opportunities in Palliative Nursing
There are plenty of opportunities in nursing and palliative care. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the job growth rate for all types of RNs is expected to be 5% from 2024 through 2034, faster than average for all professions.
Palliative care is a practice area that has been on the rise in recent years. In the U.S., the compounded annual growth rate of the palliative care market is projected at 9.9% from 2024 to 2030. This growth would value the market’s revenue at about $68.5 million in 2030.
Begin Your Journey With CSP Global
Concordia University, St. Paul can help you begin your nursing journey, no matter which nursing specialty you’re interested in. You’ll benefit from a combination of online didactic learning and applied learning experiences in immersive environments. Our curriculum, based on Christian principles and evidence-based practices, prepares our nursing graduates to serve culturally diverse populations across different specialties.
Contact an admissions advisor today to get started.