For National Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month, Joe Contreras, MD, spoke to Oncology Nursing News® about some common misconceptions between the 2 and how oncology nurses can more effectively speak with their patients about palliative care.
For this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News spoke with Joe Contreras, MD, about 3 common myths patients have about palliative care. Dr. Contreras, chair of the Institute of Pain and Palliative Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health, debunks these misconceptions by explaining how palliative care is a specialty, rather than a setting, of medicine, and that patients who receive this care while undergoing active treatment may achieve better outcomes.