A palliative care referral asks for help with the symptoms, stress and practical concerns of serious illness. The referral should make clear what the patient and referring team want help with, and how the consultation will connect with ongoing care.
NIH describes palliative care as specialized support intended to improve quality of life during serious illness. It can accompany treatment for the illness and can be offered in hospitals, outpatient settings or at home. Receiving palliative care does not require being in hospice or at the end of life.
Name the question being referred
A useful referral states the concern rather than relying only on “palliative consult.” The question might concern symptom burden, understanding care options, family support or coordination among services.
The National Institute of Nursing Research describes palliative care as a team approach that can include nursing, medicine, social work, spiritual support and other disciplines. Its patient guide emphasizes discussion of treatment choices, coordination and emotional support alongside symptom care.
For a nursing handoff, separate the patient's concern from the team's question. They may overlap, but recording both gives the receiving clinician a clearer starting point.
Explain what the referral means
Ask what the patient has heard about palliative care. Explain the purpose of the requested consultation in relation to this person's priorities. Avoid using the referral as an indirect announcement that a treatment has stopped or that hospice has been chosen.
A suggested opening is: “This team can help us address the concerns you have raised about living with the illness. We would like to ask for their help with these specific questions.” Replace “these specific questions” with the actual concerns agreed in the conversation.
The NINR guide explains that palliative specialists work with a person's existing healthcare provider. The consultation is an addition to coordinated care; clarify locally which team will handle each part of the plan.
Prepare a focused handoff
A proposed referral summary includes the reason for consultation, relevant care history, the patient's goals, what has already been discussed and any communication support needed. Identify who is requesting the consultation and who should receive the response.
For example, in a fictional outpatient referral, a patient wants help discussing the burden of treatment while continuing to see the original specialist. The referral should preserve that request. It should not recast it as a decision to end treatment.
Use the appropriate clinical route for a concern that requires an immediate response; a routine referral is not an emergency assessment.
Follow the consultation into the plan
Confirm the service's acceptance, expected contact and practical arrangements. Ask the program or coverage team about setting, eligibility and costs rather than assuming that every service described as palliative is available through the same benefit.
After the consultation, identify which recommendations were accepted, who will act and how the patient will hear about the next step. Keep unresolved questions visible to both teams.
Check patient goals with the patient. A palliative care referral is not the same as hospice referral and enrollment; the patient may seek symptom support while other treatment continues. Use closed-loop referrals to confirm which team accepted the request.
Sources
- What Is Palliative Care? (accessed 2026-09-17) — NIH News in Health, October 2023.
- Palliative Care: The Relief You Need When You Have a Serious Illness (accessed 2026-09-17) — National Institute of Nursing Research, printed September 2020.