Choice to live and die at home is supported by palliative care policy; however, health resources and access disparity impact on this choice in rural Australia. Rural end-of-life home care is provided by district nurses, but little is known about their role in advocacy for choice in care.
Objectives:
The study was conducted to review the scope of the empirical literature available to answer the research question: What circumstances influence district nurse advocacy for rural client choice to live and die at home?, and identify gaps in the knowledge.
Method:
Interpretive scoping methodology was used to search online databases, identify suitable studies and select, chart, analyse and describe the findings.
Results:
34 international studies revealed themes of ‘the nursing relationship’, ‘environment’, ‘communication’, ‘support’ and ‘the holistic client centred district nursing role.
Discussion:
Under-resourcing, medicalisation and emotional relational burden could affect advocacy in rural areas.
Conclusion:
It is not known how district nurses overcome these circumstances to advocate for choice in end-of-life care. Research designed to increase understanding of how rural district nurses advocate successfully for client goals will enable improvements to be made in the quality of end-of-life care offered.
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