Repository logo
 
Publication

Palliative care in intensive care units: nurses' perspectives on challenges and strategies

2026-01-01Research article Open access
Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorCunha, Daniela Filipa Almeida da
dc.contributor.authorAlves, José Carlos Fernandes
dc.contributor.authorMarques, Ana Jorge Santos
dc.contributor.authorSantos, Rui Filipe Sá
dc.contributor.authorMota, Liliana Andreia Neves da
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-09T11:45:39Z
dc.date.available2026-01-09T11:45:39Z
dc.date.issued2026-01-01
dc.description.abstractBackground: The integration of palliative care into intensive care units is increasingly recognised as essential to ensuring quality end-of-life care, yet persistent barriers continue to challenge its implementation. Nurses, as continuous bedside providers, are central to delivering comfort, but their perspectives remain underexplored in the Portuguese context. Aim: To explore the challenges and strategies identified by intensive care nurses in the provision of palliative care, guided by Kolcaba's Comfort Theory. Study Design: A qualitative descriptive design was adopted. Data were collected through a broader questionnaire on palliative care that included two open-ended questions. Written responses were analysed using Bardin's content analysis, with interpretation informed by Kolcaba's Comfort Theory. Results: From 52 intensive care nurses, five categories emerged: physical comfort (symptom control and proportionality of interventions), psychospiritual comfort (emotional and spiritual support), sociocultural comfort (family involvement and shared decision-making), environmental comfort (privacy and humanisation of care) and organisational factors (training needs, institutional resistance and protocols). Nurses highlighted barriers such as therapeutic obstinacy, insufficient training and organisational constraints, while proposing strategies centred on communication, teamwork and education. Conclusions: Kolcaba's Comfort Theory provided a meaningful lens to interpret the multidimensional nature of comfort in intensive care palliative care. The findings extend understanding of how nurses perceive and address structural and cultural barriers, contributing to theory-informed nursing knowledge. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Grounding practice in nurses' perspectives and comfort theory may enhance education, organisational policies and models of care, promoting a more consistent integration of palliative care in intensive care units.eng
dc.identifier.citationCunha, D. F. A. D., Alves, J. C. F., Marques, A. J. S., & Santos, R. F. S. et al. (2026). Palliative care in intensive care units: nurses' perspectives on challenges and strategies. Nursing in critical care, 31(1), Article e70240. https://doi.org/10.1111/nicc.70240
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/nicc.70240
dc.identifier.eid105025171103
dc.identifier.issn1362-1017
dc.identifier.otherf793aef1-2f75-4331-b3c2-f8c773f2b375
dc.identifier.pmcPMC12715749
dc.identifier.pmid41416457
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/56455
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectCritical care
dc.subjectNurses
dc.subjectPalliative care
dc.subjectPatient comfort
dc.titlePalliative care in intensive care units: nurses' perspectives on challenges and strategieseng
dc.typeresearch article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue1
oaire.citation.titleNursing in critical care
oaire.citation.volume31
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
137187793.pdf
Size:
244.2 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

CIIS - Contribuições em Revistas Científicas / Contribution to Journals