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Palliative care nurse consultants in Melbourne: a snapshot of their clinical role.

AIM
The current role of the palliative care nurse consultant (PCNC) is as diverse as the organisations in which such nurses work. This study reports on Phase 2 of a larger study in Melbourne, Australia, which focused particularly on describing some of the clinical aspects of the work of the PCNC in the acute hospital setting.


DESIGN
A cross-sectional survey was used to describe the selected clinical activities of the PCNC.A data collection sheet was developed to gather information about their work.


SAMPLE AND SETTING
21 PCNCs participated in the study and data were collected for 282 patients within 12 acute hospitals in Melbourne.


METHODS
PCNCs recorded selected information about their clinical work for a two-week period. Descriptive analyses were carried out to calculate frequency distributions and mean scores.


FINDINGS
In 73% of referrals, the PCNC was the first contact the patient had with any palliative care health professional; patients with a malignant diagnosis constituted the main workload of the PCNC; the highest number of interventions was recorded for the symptom management/psychosocial care category; and the time from acute hospital admission to PCNC consult referral was 6.57 days.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has demonstrated that the work of PCNCs is complex and diverse. This research forms the basis for further study into the role of the PCNC.