The importance of nurses in the care of and research advancements for patients with advanced diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.” The WHO further defines that palliative care necessarily “uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families” (1). Such interdisciplinary palliative care teams frequently include a combination of physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and chaplains (2).