Advancing the Role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Palliative Care.

Doctor of nursing practice-prepared nurses are well suited to provide high-quality palliative care to patients with serious illness and their caregivers. Their rigorous education and expertise prepare them for the complexity often associated with chronic disease and end of life. There are clear and strong recommendations from multiple national organizations supporting palliative care education for nurses and tools available for nurses to implement palliative care into practice. This article is from the perspective of the doctor of nursing practice nurse. It reviews the limited evidence on palliative care integration into the doctor of nursing practice role, the barriers to palliative care education and implementing palliative care into practice, and the potential roles that a doctor of nursing practice palliative care nurse may fill in health care.