Palliative care can be delivered by health care professionals who are palliative care specialists, such as physicians who are board certified in this specialty; palliative-certified nurses; and palliative care-certified social workers, pharmacists, and chaplains. Health care professionals who are not palliative care specialists, such as primary care clinicians; physicians who are disease-oriented specialists (such as oncologists and cardiologists); and nurses, social workers, pharmacists, chaplains, can also deliver care but are not certified in palliative care. SOURCE: The Institute of Medicine