Fostering nurse-patient relationships in palliative care: An integrative review with narrative synthesis

Background: Nurse-patient relationships are an integral component of person-centred palliative care. Greater understanding of how nurse-patient relationships are fostered and perceived by patients and nurses can be used to inform nursing practice. Aim: To systematically identify and synthesise how nurse-patient relationships are fostered in specialist inpatient palliative care settings, and how nurse-patient relationships were perceived by patients and nurses. Design: Integrative review with narrative synthesis. The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022336148, updated April, 2023). Data Sources: Five electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Medline, Web of Science and PsycINFO) were searched for articles published from their inception to December 2023. Studies were included if they (i) examined nurse and/or patient perspectives and experiences of nurse-patient relationships in specialist inpatient palliative care, (ii) were published in English in a (iii) peer-reviewed journal. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to evaluate study quality. Data were synthesised using narrative synthesis. Results: Thirty-four papers from 31 studies were included in this review. Studies were mostly qualitative and were of high methodological quality. Four themes were identified: (a) creating connections; (b) fostering meaningful patient engagement; (c) negotiating choices and (d) building trust. Conclusions: Nurses and patients are invested in the nurse-patient relationship, benefitting when it is positive, therapeutic and both parties are valued partners in the care. Key elements of fostering the nurse-patient relationship in palliative care were revealed, however, the dominance of the nurses’ perspectives signifies that the nature and impact of these relationships may not be well understood.