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.