The Nurse's Role in Curative-to-Palliative Transitions in Advanced Cancer: A Theory Synthesis Using Turner's Method.
Geya George, Deborah Kirk, Davina Porock
PMID 40488697WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses in curative-to-palliative cancer transitions perform visible advocacy, coordination and communication, plus invisible emotional, cultural and informal work.
A framework from 15 qualitative studies names these roles but does not test whether they improve outcomes.
Key findings
01The synthesised framework splits nursing work into visible roles (organiser, communicator and advocate) and invisible roles (hope instiller, protector of cultural obligations, emotion juggler and informal communicator).
02Barriers included late referrals, scope of practice, nature of nursing, power dynamics, fear, anxiety, denial, resistance, religious beliefs and practices.
03The proposed theory describes the nurse as an orchestrator pulling strings within visible and invisible roles to enable smooth transition.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The paper proposes a theory but does not test it, and validation is planned for future work. Turner's method is not widely used, so there are no standard reporting rules for this kind of synthesis. The review included only English, peer-reviewed qualitative studies from 2000 to 2020, so it may miss relevant evidence. Several source studies were small, single-site or limited in generalisability, and some focused mainly on nurses' accounts. Combining existing theories may not create a robust theory if gaps remain.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was from the Carol Cameron Memorial Scholarship.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that nurses who act as orchestrators improve cancer transitions. It synthesises qualitative studies and proposes a framework, but it does not test the framework or measure patient outcomes.