The Core Competencies of Nurses Providing Home-based Palliative Care to Patients with Incurable Diseases: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: To effectively deliver palliative care within community settings, nurses must possess adequate competencies. Regarding the few review studies in this field, the present study aimed to explore the necessary qualifications required for nurses providing home-based palliative care to patients with incurable diseases. METHODS: This scoping review was performed during 2024 based on the Cochrane methodology using the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley in six steps. A comprehensive literature review was conducted on databases of Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/Medline, EBSCO, as well as Cochran library. Articles published in English between 1990 and 2024 were screened, and the textual narrative synthesis was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The extracted data were organized into three main competencies including knowledge (knowledge of the philosophy of palliative care, familiarity with incurable diseases, and awareness of the structure of the healthcare system), attitude (interprofessional and intersectoral cooperation, cultural competence, and adherence to ethical principles), and skills (physical care, psychological care, spiritual care, social support, medication administration, care of dying patients, and communication skills). CONCLUSION: Community health nurses must possess sufficient knowledge, appropriate attitudes, and essential clinical competencies to deliver effective communitybased palliative care for patients with lifelimiting illnesses. The necessary competencies to provide home-based palliative care should be integrated into the nursing education program.