Difficulties Experienced by Palliative Care Nurses in Emergency Care Practices: A Qualitative Study

Objective: This study aimed to determine the difficulties experienced by palliative care nurses during emergency care practice. Materials and Methods: This study reports the experiences of 10 nurses working in the palliative care unit of a public hospital between February 2023 and May 2023 regarding emergency care practices. A qualitative research design was used with semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Results: Four themes were identified from the analysis of the interview documents: 1) feelings in the face of emergency, 2) factors that support emergency care practices, 3) factors that hinder emergency care practices, and 4) the development of emergency care practices. Conclusions: The most important factor preventing emergency nursing practice in the palliative care service was insufficient staffing, especially during night shifts. The number of nurses was low, there was no support staff, and in case of possible cardiopulmonary resuscitation requirements, the treatment of other patients was interrupted. Identifying the factors that support and hinder emergency nursing practices will allow the development of strategies that will positively affect holistic care delivery by palliative care nurses.