A nurse is caring for a patient with a life-threatening illness. The nurse focuses on managing symptoms to improve the patient's quality of life and considers the patient's whole person—body, mind, and spirit. What type of care is the nurse providing?

Palliative care is an approach to care focused on relieving symptoms, improving quality of life, and addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients with serious or life-threatening illness. It treats the whole person rather than targeting cure of the underlying disease. Key features include pain and symptom management, emotional and spiritual support, and collaboration with the patient and family to align care with the patient's values and goals. Rehabilitative care aims to restore function and independence after illness or injury and is not the focus when managing symptoms for quality of life in a life-threatening condition. Curative care is directed at eliminating the underlying disease and achieving a complete recovery, which contrasts with the comfort-focused goals described. Preventive care involves strategies to prevent disease onset or progression in otherwise healthy individuals. Because the scenario explicitly describes symptom management, quality-of-life focus, and a holistic body-mind-spirit approach in the context of a life-threatening illness, palliative care is the most accurate descriptor. Nurses providing palliative care serve as advocates for patient comfort and dignity throughout the illness trajectory.