Palliative care specialists are particularly adept at handling a patient’s swift deterioration and heightened anxiety, even if the patient is isolated from family. During the COVID-19 crisis, palliative care clinicians and nurses are sharing their expertise with hospital-based specialists. However, World Health Organizations guidelines for treating COVID-19 omitted the crucial role that palliative care plays.
“This was an oversight,” wrote the Lancet in an April editorial (