District nurse involvement in providing palliative care to older people in residential care homes.

Although less than 15% of older people in care homes die of a terminal disease such as cancer, many more die following a period of slow deterioration. In the UK, residents of care homes receive their nursing care from primary healthcare providers. This article reports on a study that describes how district nurses and care home managers define their responsibilities when caring for residents who are dying. The findings presented are from a detailed survey of 89 district nurse team leaders and 96 care home managers. District nurses were the most frequent health professionals visiting care homes, but less than half reported involvement in palliative care. The differing priorities and perceptions of participants regarding what constituted nursing and personal care influenced older people's access to palliative care services. Furthermore, the organization of care and the stability of the care home workforce affected participants' ability to establish ongoing supportive working relationships. It is argued that unless there is an organizational review of current practice, older people will continue to have unequal access to generalist and specialist palliative care.