The nurse and healthcare coordinator of Cuides UIC Barcelona, the first university clinic providing integrative care for patients needing palliative care, has stressed the prominent role these professionals play in caring for people with advanced disease.

As Mariona Guerrero points out, “in the moment when the focus is no longer curative and we focus on ensuring comfort and optimal care, nursing plays a leading role, because nurses have a very integrative view of patient needs.” In this sense, she stressed that all professionals should have knowledge about symptomatic management and the necessary training to be able to support these patients with advanced disease adequately, whether it is cancer or not.

Guerrero also pointed out that an interdisciplinary approach is essential so that nursing professionals can respond to patient needs, not only physical needs but also to the spiritual, emotional and social needs. Therefore, she called for specific training that allows a better understanding of the palliative focus and the consequences in treating and approaching the patient.

The Cuides UIC Barcelona care coordinator also pointed out that families are “the forgotten patients” of the health system and that they are just as important. In this line, she assured that it is essential to know how they are facing the situation, and what resources or support network they have available to take care of their family member. In our society, with an aging population, people live longer with comorbidity, so palliative care will be increasingly in demand. For this very reason, it is important, in the field of nursing, go further into topics on support in suffering.