Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine
Open Access

Review Article

Palliative Care in Israel: The Nursing Perspective

Sarah Ben Ami^1* and Aliza Yaffe²

¹R.N M.A, Head nurse "Meirav" Breast Health Clinic, "Sheba" Medical Center, Israel

²R.N M.A; Tel Aviv University, Nursing Department, Board Member "Tmicha", Israel

Corresponding Author:

Ami SB
1R.N M.A, Head Nurse "Meirav" Breast Health Clinic
"Sheba" Medical Center, Israel
Tel: 972-4-8244794
E-mail: Sarah.BenAmi@sheba.health.gov.il

Received Date: November 20, 2015 Accepted Date: December 21, 2015 Published Date: December 24, 2015

Citation: Ami SB, Yaffe A (2015) Palliative Care in Israel: The Nursing Perspective. J Palliat Care Med S5:009. doi: 10.4172/2165-7386.1000S5009

Copyright: © 2015 Ami SB, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Palliative care nursing in Israel started in the early 1980's when oncology nurses in the community were designated to care for cancer patients in their homes. This group of nurses became experts in palliative care and set the standards. They worked in close collaboration with the Hospice and the primary clinics; which helped them to enrich their knowledge and skills for the benefit of the patients. Four steps have facilitated the way to offer regulated palliative care in Israel: The Dying Patient Law Legislation in 2005, the directive policy statement in 2009, the recognition of palliative clinical nurse specialists in 2009 and the process of periodical inspection done by the Ministry of Health. Nurses in Israel provide palliative care for patients in all settings along the trajectory of the disease, including symptom assessment and management, patient and family support, education for self-care, hospice and end of life care.

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