Review Article
Palliative Care to the Cancer Patient: Turkish Nurses Perspectives
Fusun Terzioglu1,*, Fatma Uslu Sahan1 and Handan Boztepe2
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecologic Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
2Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
- Corresponding Author:
- Terzioglu F, PhD
MSN, RN, Professor, Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecologic Nursing
Faculty of Nursing, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Tel: +90-312-3051580
Fax: +90-312-312 70 85
E-mail: fusun@hacettepe.edu.tr
Received Date: September 29, 2015 Accepted Date: November 10, 2015 Published Date: November 13, 2015
Citation: Terzioglu F, Sahan FU, Boztepe H (2015) Palliative Care to the Cancer Patient: Turkish Nurses’ Perspectives. J Palliat Care Med S5:004. doi:10.4172/2165-7386.1000S5004
Copyright: © 2015 Terzioglu F, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Palliative care is recognized as an essential component of cancer care in Turkey. The Cancer Control Department of The Turkish Ministry of Health launched the nurse and society-based Pallia-Turk Project in 2010. Nurses play the most important role and bear the most important responsibilities in this project. Because nurses are in contact with patients at all stages of cancer during treatment, they are to be more proactive and innovative to maximize the quality of life of cancer patients and their families. However, challenges in palliative care nursing practices in Turkey can reduce the quality of care given to patients and their families. The most significant barriers to the development of palliative care nursing were identified as the lack of palliative care education and training programs, limited research about palliative care nursing, lack of public awareness, and inadequate legislation about palliative care services. In this article, it is intended to provide information about the current state of palliative care services and palliative care nursing in Turkey.
