Barriers to palliative and supportive care.

The goal of palliative care is to provide comprehensive and intense symptom management and psychological, educational, social, and spiritual support. Barriers to palliative care that nurses encounter may be conceptualized into three main levels: the patient/family, professional, and system barriers. Recommendations for nurses, health care policy makers, and other health professionals to address the barriers are discussed. Future research and work needs to be implemented at all three levels to optimize the quality end-of-life care.