Ella Stiles

Providing artificial nutrition and hydration in palliative care

This literature review investigates nurses’ attitudes towards providing artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) in the palliative care setting. Various factors that influence nurses’ attitudes are examined. While some of the findings have limited generalisability because of the dearth of evidence originating from the UK, United States and western Europe, the issues should still be considered. It is recommended that more research is carried out examining nurses’ attitudes towards providing ANH in palliative care in the UK, to gain a better understanding of the factors that may influence decision making.