Implementing the new commission on cancer standard on palliative care services.

O ncology nurses know that improving quality of life is essential for patients with cancer. Optimizing quality of life requires excellence in symptom management, such as relief from physical symptoms (e.g., pain), as well as addressing the psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Improving quality of life and relieving suffering are priorities across the disease spectrum from diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life care to bereavement support for families. Interdisciplinary teams are needed to address the multiple dimensions of physical, psychological, and spiritual care. Nurses are integral members of cancer care teams, and their inclusion in the new accreditation standards for cancer centers highlights the contributions of the profession and the specialties of oncology nursing and palliative care. Different approaches to implementing the new standard for palliative care services are described in the next two articles. Each article explores the roles of oncology nurses and advanced practice nurses (APRNs) on palliative care teams. The articles describe how oncology nurses, by virtue of their education and clinical expertise, need to be involved in the Commission on Cancer (CoC) standard implementation regarding palliative care across hospital and community settings.