American Academy of Nursing Expert Panel consensus statement on nursing's roles in ensuring universal palliative care access.

The purpose of this consensus paper was to convene leaders and scholars from eight Expert Panels of the American Academy of Nursing and provide recommendations to advance nursing's roles and responsibility to ensure universal access to palliative care. Part I of this consensus paper herein provides the rationale and background to support the policy, education, research, and clinical practice recommendations put forward in Part II. On behalf of the Academy, the evidence-based recommendations will guide nurses, policy makers, government representatives, professional associations, and interdisciplinary and community partners to integrate palliative nursing services across health and social care settings.

Palliative Care Needs in Breast Cancer Patients Entering Inpatient Hospice in Western Kenya.

Context: Breast cancer in Kenya is associated with a high mortality due to late stage disease at presentation and limited access to specialty care.

Objectives: To understand the symptom burden in breast cancer patients entering hospice in Western Kenya and utilize the data to meet the growing need for palliative care and hospice services.

Methods: We conducted a quality improvement exercise to assess the needs of Kenyan women admitted to inpatient hospice with the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Optimizing the Global Nursing Workforce to Ensure Universal Palliative Care Access and Alleviate Serious Health-Related Suffering Worldwide.

Context: Palliative care access is fundamental to the highest attainable standard of health and a core component of universal health coverage. Forging universal palliative care access is insurmountable without strategically optimizing the nursing workforce and integrating palliative nursing into health systems at all levels. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored both the critical need for accessible palliative care to alleviate serious health-related suffering and the key role of nurses to achieve this goal.

"To Speak of Death Is to Invite It": Provider Perceptions of Palliative Care for Cardiovascular Patients in Western Kenya.

Context: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and a significant health burden in Kenya. Despite improved outcomes in CVD, palliative care has limited implementation for CVD in low-income and middle-income countries. This may be partly because of providers' perceptions of palliative care and end-of-life decision making for patients with CVD.

A Pilot Study of Palliative Care Provider Self-competence and Priorities for Education in Kenya.

This study explored palliative care provider self-competence and priorities for future education in an inpatient hospice setting in Kenya. Self-competence scores for clinical skills and patient and family communication skills were hypothesized to differ according to provider type. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was piloted at Kimbilio Hospice, a 26-bed rural, inpatient facility in Kenya.