An effective communication seemed to be crucial in all the cancer care phases, like diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options.

To analyze and interpret structured and open-ended questionnaire responses, focusing on the communication of bad news in onco-hematology: health care professionals’ attitudes, communication methods, and perceived stress levels.

By employing a free Large Language Model, we identified and summarized the main emotions and perspectives shared by professionals.

A total of 221 Italian nurses and physicians employed in onco-hematology field were enrolled. The analysis revealed key emotional themes, offering insights into the professionals’ emotional states and coping mechanisms when delivering difficult news.

Data highlighted the duality of emotions experienced by nurses when delivering bad news – balancing professional composure with emotional distress, underscoring the critical role of empathy, team support, and adequate preparation in helping nurses navigate these challenging conversations.

This study aimed to explore the many roles of palliative care (PC) nurses in addressing the needs of patients with life-limiting illnesses in the acute inpatient setting in New Zealand.

A scoping review was undertaken, informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines and utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. In December 2024, a comprehensive search using Pubmed, Scopus, and CINAHL was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published in English between the years 2014 and 2024, with full text available, that focused on PC nursing in the acute setting in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, or the United Kingdom. These countries were chosen because their health care systems are similar. Citation searches were undertaken. Grey literature from New Zealand hospitals was also searched.

After selection, 25 pieces of literature were eligible for the review. Nine key areas were found where PC nurses and teams play key roles in the ongoing management of patients and their coordination of care within the last months to last days of life in the acute inpatient setting. The areas were care-coordination, communication facilitation, decision-making, goals and expectations, discharge planning, physical symptom management, holistic symptom management, finances, environment, education, and rapid review. The findings suggest that PC nurses in the acute setting are no longer involved in single episodes of symptom management and ward-based end-of-life nursing, but are responsible for multiple facets of care, facilitated across several different services.

Understanding the complex roles involved in PC nursing can impact the health care outcomes of patients with a life-limiting illness. The scoping review can help inform future staffing requirements and the skill mix and knowledge levels required to provide timely and appropriate PC in the acute environment in New Zealand hospitals.

Patients’ involvement in the decision-making process is essential for shared decision-making and optimal patient-centered care. However, when there are concerns about a patient’s cognition and judgmen, the complexity of providing patient-centered care increases. It is often necessary to evaluate patients’ decision-making capacity (DMC) to determine whether they are able to make a particular decision or whether to rely on their previously expressed wishes or the patient’s caregivers.

In this article, we present a case of an older adult with colon cancer who presented to the emergency room.

We describe how multidisciplinary care can enhance the evaluation of DMC and improve quality of care for older patients with advanced cancer.

Multidisciplinary discussions and good communication skills are essential for navigating these complex situations, reducing potential harm and maximizimizing quality of life.

This study examined the changes in intimacy and sexuality amongst cancer patients at the end of life, including those in the final stage, and the distress they raised while experiencing those changes.

A phenomenological qualitative study, based on interviews with 35 dying cancer patients. The results were analyzed by Constant Comparison Analysis method.

Some of the dying patients reported absence of essential change in their sexual needs and ability. while others reported about changes. The changes caused seven various forms of distress to the majority of patients, for example grief due to diminution of sexuality, impact on the partner due to lack of sex and distress resulting from consciousness of the end of life. A minority did not experience distress from the sexuality changes. About a third of the interviewees were interested in sexual counseling during their dying period, and about 80% considered it important for the palliative care team to raise the issue of sexuality.

End of life patients and even those in final stages may have needs related to their intimate and sexual life. As long as the person breathes, even towards death, he can continue to live, even in the intimate aspect, so the palliative team has an important role in answering the specific and complex needs related to sexuality at the end of life. Recommendations were formulated specifically based on this research, for professional intervention regarding sexuality at the end of life, by a PASSION model.

To evaluate the accessibility and acceptability of implementing a telephone-based psychological support intervention for patients with metastatic cancer in the Indian palliative care settings.

The present single centered experimental study was conducted on 181 adult metastatic cancer patients who were referred to the pain and palliative medicine department by medical oncologists at a tertiary hospital, India. The patients were purposely assigned to two groups: In Group-A 90, patients received a combination of palliative and psychological support. In Group-B, 91 patients received only structured palliative care. As per the department protocol, patients in each group were followed up on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Before each session, patients completed questionnaires that are based on disease-related symptoms and psychological well-being.

It was found out that patients with telephone based psychological support integrated with palliative care has shown gradual improvement in physical and psychological symptoms from day 7 to day 28 when compared to the control group with p-value < 0.05. Additionally, 67% of patients continued their follow-up with the psychologist, indicating the accessibility and acceptability of the treatment. Furthermore, 87% of patients preferred voice calls over video calls because of the limited internet access (N = 72%).

Therefore, it can be concluded that the combined approach of pain management through palliative care and continuous telephone based psychological support has contributed to their holistic well-being.

The findings highlight that integrating telephone-based psychological support within palliative care services is both feasible and acceptable for patients with metastatic cancer in India. This approach not only improves physical and psychological outcomes but also enhances the continuity of care, especially in resource-limited settings where in-person psychological services may not always be accessible.