Essay On Community Nursing

This is further corroborated by Ingleton et al (2011), who believed that the need for community-based palliative and end of life care will increase rapidly over the course of the next 20 years because of increasing emphasis on shifting the delivery of care out of the hospital and into primary care which invariably leads to changes in the role of Community Nurses and in the demands on their time. Consequently, the above mentioned changes will place tremendous pressure on community nursing services and family carers (Department of Health, 2006a and Department of Health, 2006b)..

The increased work pressure on the nurses have can be said to have an impact on the nursing practice and the nurses themselves. Burt et al (2008) reported that CNs

Furthermore, Viney (1996) and other studies found that prior to the ‘End of Life Care Policy’, nurses sometimes resorted to ‘game playing’ as well advocated and spoke on behalf of patients and their family with physicians and the Department of Health (1999), described community nurses as “patient assessors, care coordinators and team leaders”. Research by Burt et al (2008) moreover confirmed that community nurses are central to the provision of palliative care and EOL care in the community, although nurses felt that this was not always acknowledged by other professionals.

Judith et al (2011) however established that subsequent to the EOL policy, most nurses are now more direct in the approaches they use to fulfil their roles especially in providing information (e.g. prognosis) to the patient and their family, liaising with physicians and with other medical professionals.

Each CN team, led by a senior nurse, includes senior staff nurses, staff nurses and health care assistants. All members work together to provide care to patients with a diverse range of needs, including palliative care needs, at home or in residential care