Background: The aim of this study was to observe nurses' experiences of palliative care. The method used was a literary survey based on 10 qualitative studies. The studies were published in scientific journals.

Result: Two themes and four categories were found. The themes were: "The nurse as coordinator" and "The nurse's experienced needs for improvement". The categories were "Communication", "Relation/commitment", Work routines" and "Education/Further education". Our study indicates that the experiences concerning palliative care among nurses are similar. The nurses experienced that they had a coordinating role in the palliative nursing situation. They also expressed the need for developed work routines together with additional education and training in the field of palliative care.

Conclusion: a majority of the examined studies stress the fact that nurses were responsible for the overall planning of the palliative care. This general overview of the entire work field provides nurses with necessary tools to define any needs for improvement that might occur in the daily care. The professional attitudes among nurses in palliative care contributed to the request of need of support and continuous education in order to be able to provide good quality care. If the health care quality measurements were not reached the nurses would feel inadequate in their role as coordinating nurses. Nurses argue that they are in need of continuous knowledge development in order to achieve greater comfort in their professional situation.