Researchers: Dr Ben Bowers, Dr Melissa Fielding, Dr Efthalia Massou, Emily Ashwell, Claire McDonell, Maria Betts, Emma Clifford, Theresa Bradley, Zoe Jayne, Nicola Zolnhofer, Prof. Fliss Murtagh, Prof. Alison Leary, Stephanie Lawence, Dr Crystal Oldman, Prof. Andrew Carson-Stevens, Prof. Stephen Barclay, Joodi Mourhli
Funders: NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England
Partner institutions: Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN), including the QICN Community Nursing Research Forum and International Community Nursing Oservatory (ICNO). University of Hull. Cardiff University. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. Engineering Department, University of Cambridge. London South Bank University.
Start date: 07/04/2025
End date: 01/08/2026
Project summary:
Community nurses end-of-life care workloads have increased dramatically in recent years, whilst community nursing services have experienced under-investment and chronic recruitment issues. Just how much of their time is spent providing care for people in their last year of life remains unknown. This survey study will identify what proportion of UK-based community nurses’ daily work involves providing care for people in their last year of life. We are also interested in finding out if safety critical end-of-life care visits and contacts are being routinely deferred or cancelled due to capacity issues. 1471 community nurses have taken part.
The review is currently being written up for publication.
Project aims:
- To identify what proportion of community nurses’ daily work involves providing care for people in their last year of life.
- To establish the extent to which community nurses’ end-of-life work is being deferred / cancelled or done below their professional satisfaction due to capacity issues.
Project impact:
Our rapid survey findings will highlight the pivotal role that community nurses play in delivering end-of-life care and the substantial proportion of time they devote to care for patients in their last year of life. The findings are also informing future policies in the four nations aimed at ensuring community healthcare services are adequately resourced to meet growing demand.
Further information, references, publications and presentations:
Bowers B, Pollock K, Etkind S, Leary A, Barclay S, Polak L. 'We've Taken on a More Advanced Clinical Role': A Multimethod Study of Community Nurses' Extended Roles in Palliative Care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 2025. Online First
Bowers B, Bashford T. 'Make do and mend': redefining resilience within community healthcare. British Journal of Community Nursing 2025 Aug 2;30(8):364-366.
Polak L, Pollock K, Barclay S, Bowers B. How do GPs’ new ways of working affect community nurses? A qualitative study. British Journal of General Practice 2025; 75(755): e406-e411