Emerging Models of Providing Oncology Palliative Care.

OBJECTIVE

To describe palliative care integration into oncology, including several models that facilitate this integration, important considerations when initiating a program, special oncologic populations that would benefit from palliative care, and challenges to consider.

DATA SOURCES

Palliative care and oncology literature over the past decade.

CONCLUSION

Multiple models exist to facilitate the integration of palliative care based on the needs of the providers or payers. There are several special populations that would benefit from early integration of palliative care.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Nurses play a critical role in identifying patients, providing early primary palliative care, and facilitating collaborative relationships with and referring to specialist palliative care.