End of Life Care

RCN Learning resource: End of life care and wellbeing for the nursing and midwifery workforce

• Online learning resource for nursing staff:
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Royal College of Nursing (2023) Mouth care during end of life care keeping the mouth clean, moist and comfortable. London: RCN.

• mouth-care-during-end-of-life-care-uk-pub-010-715

Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, King’s College London (2023) A right to be heard: better palliative and end-of-life care for people affected by dementia. London: King’s College London.

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Hospice UK (2023) I just want to be me: trans and gender diverse communities’ access to and experiences of palliative and end of life care. London: Hospice UK.

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The King’s Fund (2023) Dying well at home : commissioning quality end-of-life care. London: The King’s Fund.

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Marie Curie (2022) Caring for LGBTQ+ people at the end of life. 

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Marie Curie (2022) The better end of life report 2022: mind the gaps: understanding and improving out-of-hours care for people with advanced illness and their informal carers Research Report. London: Marie Curie.

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NHS (2021): End of life care.

• Information aimed at the public
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NHS Benchmarking Network (2023) National audit of care at the end of life:  fourth round of the audit (2022/23) report. England and Wales. UK: Health Quality Improvement Partnership.

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National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership (2021) Ambitions for palliative and end of life care: A national framework for local action 2021-2026. UK: Ambitions Partnership.

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We would like to thank the RCN Pain and Palliative Care member community for their input into the development of this subject guide.

Acquaviva K D (2023) The handbook of LGBTQIA-inclusive hospice and palliative care. New York: Columbia University Press.

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André B and Ringdal G I (2023) Health promotion in palliative care. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 

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Blackmore T and Parker G (2020) Community palliative care and COVID-19: a handbook for clinicians who care for palliative patients with COVID-19 in community settings. Class Professional Publishing: Bridgwater.

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Costello J (2019) Adult palliative care for nursing, health and social care. London: Sage Publications.

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Currow D, Clark K and Kleinig P (2024) Emergencies in supportive and palliative care. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Dickman A (2023) Drugs in palliative care. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Hallenbeck J L (2022) Palliative care perspectives. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated.

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Hardy B and Flemming K (2023) Palliative and end of life nursing care. London: Learning Matters.

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Mannix K (2019) With the end in mind: dying, death and wisdom in an age of denial. London: William Collins.

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Pryde N (2022) Enhanced palliative care. Bridgwater: Class Publishing.

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Shapiro S P (2019) Speaking for the dying: life-and-death decisions in intensive care. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.

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Wright P M (2021) Fast facts for the hospice nurse: a concise guide to end-of-life care. 2nd edn. New York: Springer.

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Use these links to see details of books the RCN libraries hold on each topic.

• End of life care
• Death and dying
• Nursing older people
• Palliative care
• Terminal care

Use these links for details of journal articles on each topic.

• Death and dying
• End of life care
• Nutrition and hydration at the end of life
• Palliative Care
• Terminal care

Journals of interest for end of life care. Use these links to see details of availability.

• BMC Palliative Care
• British Journal of Community Nursing
• Death studies
• International Journal of Palliative Nursing
• Primary Healthcare

Royal College of Nursing (no date) Care home journey. RCN.

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Hospice UK (no date) Dying matters resources.

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Social Care Institute for Excellence (2014) End of life care: achieving dignity for those with dementia, Great Britain: Social Care TV (video).

Social Care Institute for Excellence (2014) End of life and palliative care: Thinking about the words we use, Great Britain: Social Care TV (video).