Abstract
Research is the foundation for good hospice and palliative nursing care. It provides the evidence for practice and practice changes, determines what is taught and how nurses are educated, and drives the policies that shape how palliative nursing care is delivered. This article seeks to help build clinicians' enthusiasm for research and their confidence to participate by reviewing how far palliative nursing research has come in the 25 years since the founding of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association research activities, federal funding for palliative care research, and the numbers of published research articles have all grown substantially during this period. Pioneers in palliative nursing research date back to the beginning of formal care for the dying and contribute the base for the accumulation of evidence for practice. Current hospice and palliative nurses can take pride in their heritage as they carve out their own role in continuing to build this evidence base.