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. 2025 Apr 21;24(1):106.
doi: 10.1186/s12904-025-01743-0.

Empowering nurses to provide palliative care for COPD patients in a pulmonary department: participatory action research

Narjes Heshmatifar  1 , Mahnaz Amini  2 , Hamid Reza Zendeh Talab  3 , Zahra Sadat Manzari  4
Affiliations

Empowering nurses to provide palliative care for COPD patients in a pulmonary department: participatory action research

Narjes Heshmatifar et al. BMC Palliat Care. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects the quality of life of patients and their caregivers. Although palliative care can improve quality of life, COPD patients and their caregivers have limited access to palliative care services. This study was conducted to empower nurses to provide palliative care to COPD patients in the pulmonary department.

Methods: This participatory action research (PAR) was conducted in four steps: observation, reflection, planning, and action. Participants included all nurses (n = 18) who provided PC to COPD patients in the pulmonary department. The research team, physicians and managers, and a multiprofessional palliative care team formed the core PAR team. The data were collected via PCKT, FATCOD-B, and PCPS questionnaires about palliative care, interviews, focus groups, and observation. Qualitative content analysis and paired t-tests were used for data analysis.

Results: Three major themes emerged: professional incompetence in palliative care, basic shortages in palliative care, and a lack of professional support. Three changes were made including enhancing palliative care knowledge, establishing a palliative care team, and increasing career motivation. There were significant increases in PCKT, FATCOD-B, and PCPS scores before and after PAR (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: Given the importance of providing palliative care, necessary measures, including PC training, and promoting inter professional collaboration and as well as motivating staff, should be taken by health managers.

Keywords: COPD; Nurse; Palliative care; Participatory action research.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Mashhad University (IR.MUMS.REC.1402.007). All the necessary permissions were obtained from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and Imam Reza Hospital. Data confidentiality was strictly maintained and all data was anonymized. The authors confirm that written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Helsinki declaration in ethical codes was respected in all the stages of the study. Consent for publication: All authors have provided their consent for publication. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
O’Leary Cycles Action Research
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overview of the action research process
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