BACKGROUND: In the Arab and Islamic world, data on palliative and end-of-life (PEOL) care education are minimal.
OBJECTIVES: The current study's primary aim was to identify what PEOL care education is delivered to undergraduate nurses in Egypt and the teaching strategies used to deliver this education. A secondary aim was to assess the feasibility of using online surveys in nursing research in Egypt.
DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional survey.
SETTINGS: Ten randomly selected faculties of nursing across Egypt.
PARTICIPANTS: Nursing educators who were working at three academic departments; Medical-Surgical Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, and Gerontological Nursing; in the participating faculties.
METHODS: After face-to-face recruitment of participants, data were collected using an online questionnaire with an adjunctive use of paper questionnaires. The questionnaire assessed participants' and courses' characteristics, the inclusion of the PEOL Care Index content in the surveyed courses, and teaching strategies used to deliver this content.
RESULTS: A total of 95 nursing educators were involved in the current study (response rate = 86.4%). All participants were female, and 87.4% responded via online questionnaires. The overall coverage of the PEOL care content ranged from 76% to 100%. End-of-life care and spiritual care were the least frequently reported PEOL care topics; on average, by 19.6% and 36% of the educators, respectively. Lecture was the most frequently used teaching strategy, followed by clinical field practice (mean percentages of utilization: 77.7% and 53.6%, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: In Egypt, most PEOL care topics are covered in undergraduate nursing curricula. Yet, educating these topics is predominantly theoretical. End-of-life care and spiritual care are the least frequently covered PEOL care topics. Online surveys are feasible for multisite curricular assessment, and this feasibility may be augmented by face-to-face recruitment of participants and adjunctive use of paper questionnaires.
Professional values reflect nurses' understanding of how to deliver professional care, which might influence nurses' attitudes and caring behaviors during end-of-life care. However, limited research has been conducted to explore nurses' experiences of professional development during end-of-life care, and theoretical explanations are scarce about how nurses enact their professional values during the caring process. This study explored the social process of professional values involved in end-of-life care in the Chinese cultural context by adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach. Twenty semi-structured in-depth interviews among 15 nurses from three hospitals in southeastern China were conducted. A theoretical framework emerged when focusing on the social process of "reframing the meaning of life and professional values" to facilitate professional care for dying patients. Three main categories were sequentially identified as "recognizing the dilemmas when caring for dying patients," "applying strategies to deal with values conflict," and "reconstructing values." This theoretical framework may be applied as a practical framework for equipping nurses with effective strategies to cultivate professional values, including the provision of adequate end-of-life knowledge, and a supportive workplace environment.
OBJECTIVES: Many studies regarding nursing student's first experience of facing the death of a patient have focused on classroom methods or exploring attitudes towards death and related fears or anxieties. This review is the first to identify the mechanisms that facilitate practice learning as a result of students' first time experience of handling a patient's death.
DESIGN: A realist review as a form of a systematic review of the literature.
DATA SOURCES: The literature search focused on the earliest death experience of baccalaureate nursing students and end-of-life care, using databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, ERIC, PSYCINFO.
REVIEW METHODS: Three research questions were addressed following a five-step process of (1) defining the scope of review and developing a theoretical framework, (2) conducting a theory-driven purposive search for evidence, (3) appraising evidence and extracting data, (4) synthesizing data and drawing conclusions, and (5) disseminating findings; with iterative expert consultation and discussion to answer the five questions of any realist review: 'what works, for whom, in what circumstances, how and why'.
RESULTS: Thirteen publications were included. Practice learning involves both changes and context improvements to be assessed and discussed by managers, leaders, nurse educators-facilitators and students. The environment and nursing role models are an inherent part of practice learning. Further work is needed to theorize the twelve key outcomes laid out in this review. These proposals require further consensus and the inclusion of inputs from both students and nurses.
CONCLUSION: The student nurse receives contradictory messages during the first experience of facing the death of a patient under their care. Considering the importance of this experience, specific indicators should be developed to track and guarantee and the optimal achievement of required competencies.
A hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is an intense treatment approach for patients with a hematologic malignancy and brings a significant risk for morbidity and mortality. HSCT brings hope of cure for patients; however, treatments are lengthy and burdensome from both a physical and psychosocial perspective. As the culture of HSCT has traditionally been cure-oriented, it leaves little room for a potential partnership with palliative care services, and when palliative care services are introduced, it is often too late for significant benefit. The need to standardize palliative care involvement for patients with hematologic malignancies receiving a HSCT has become necessary, yet there are challenges with the best way to create such a partnership. Nurse practitioners are a steadily growing professional body possessing the knowledge and skill necessary to fill the gap in palliative care delivery for HSCT patients. The proposed Nurse Practitioner Early Palliative Care for HSCT patients (NEST) algorithm will seek to provide a pathway in which to foster a partnership between hematology/HSCT teams and palliative services to yield the best care possible for patients.
Retention of staff presents major challenges within children's palliative care; this has substantial implications for children, families and the nursing workforce. To address this, a programme was undertaken that provided pathways of professional development for senior nurses working in this field. This study reports the views of nurses completing this programme, the overall project manager (PM) and the day-to-day programme lead (PL) as well as factors that influence nurse retention within children's palliative care nursing. The study drew on an Appreciative Inquiry approach that comprised of interviews with the PM and PL as well as focus groups and questionnaires with senior nurses from the children's palliative care sector, who participated in the training programme. Thematic analysis of data from interviews and focus groups revealed factors influencing nurse retention: speciality, positivity and making a difference, support, provision of adequate resources, tailored education/professional development and resilience. These themes were supported by the questionnaire findings. The programme was perceived as having a positive influence on nurse retention within the children's palliative care workforce. In addition, it was felt to be very beneficial in terms of shared learning and development. Participants highlighted the need for similar opportunities in the future.
The purpose of the current inquiry is to measure Jordanian student nurses' attitudes towards the care of dying patients using a cross-sectional survey. The sample of this study comprises 300 nursing students. Data was collected using the Frommelt's Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Form B (FATCOD-B). Most of the students were female (72%) in their second year (40.3%). The mean total score of all FATCD-B items was 95.8 out of 150 (SD 8.7). Student nurses had low mean scores for their attitude towards care of the dying. Two approaches could be taken to improve this situation. First, research is needed to fully understand and explain students' attitudes towards the care of dying patients. It might be more appropriate to utilize mixed research methods. The second is to integrate end-of-life care courses within the curricula of nursing programmes, currently the mainstay in improving students' knowledge and attitudes toward care of the dying.
PURPOSE: Defining patients as 'terminally-ill' may be difficult. Therefore, determining when to shift the goal of care from curative to comfort care may be extremely challenging. The aim of this study was to merge when and how Registered Nurses (RNs) and Nurses' Assistants (NAs) adjust end-of-life care to pursue patient comfort at the end of their lives.
METHODS: A descriptive qualitative study based on multiple focus groups was performed in 2017 according to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research guidelines. In all, 25 RNs and 16 NAs across seven north-east Italian facilities that provide end-of-life care, voluntarily participated in the study. Each focus group was conducted following the same interview guide with open-ended questions, and was audiotaped. A thematic analysis was applied to interview transcripts.
RESULTS: The process of nursing care plan adjustment is based upon two main themes, around 'when' and 'how' to adjust it. Regarding when, 'Detecting the turning point', and 'Being ready to change continuously until the end' emerged as the main sub-themes. Regarding how, 'Weighing harms and benefits of nursing care interventions'; 'Advocating for patients' wishes', 'Sharing the adjustments inside the team at different levels', 'Involving family in the adjustments of nursing care'; and 'Allowing care to move away from evidence-based practice' were the sub-themes emerged.
CONCLUSIONS: Shedding light on the implicit decisional processes that inform care adjustments and the implementation of related strategies is essential to improve the quality of end-of-life care given that an early detection of the terminal phase has been reported to result in changes of care improving outcomes.
But de l’étude : La possibilité de passer sa fin de vie chez soi est un enjeu de santé publique qui répond à la demande de la population et aux contraintes du système de santé. L’organisation de l’offre de soins et des acteurs infirmiers est donc centrale dans le développement des soins palliatifs à domicile. L’objectif de cette étude était de décrire la place des différents acteurs de soins infirmiers dans la prise en charge des situations palliatives avancées et terminales à domicile.
Matériel et méthodes : Une enquête de pratique a été réalisée au moyen d’un questionnaire en ligne auprès des médecins généralistes installés en Gironde. Le repérage des situations palliatives était réalisé avec le "Supportive & Palliative Care Indicators Tool" en version française (SPICT-FR™).
Résultats : En tout 89 médecins ont décrit la prise en charge de 607 patients en situations palliatives avancées et terminales en cours de suivi, et celle de 260 patients décédés à domicile au cours des 12 derniers mois à l’issue d’une pathologie en situation palliative. Les infirmiers libéraux assuraient, seuls, 64 % de l’ensemble des prises en charge en cours, et 56 % de celles le mois précédant le décès. Ils intervenaient également dans la majorité des situations où les infirmiers des services d’hospitalisation à domicile et des services de soins infirmiers à domicile étaient présents.
Conclusion : Alors que la représentation commune tend à considérer l’infirmier du service d’hospitalisation à domicile comme l’acteur majoritaire des situations palliatives avancées et terminales à domicile, cette enquête montre que les infirmiers libéraux ont une place prépondérante dans ces situations. Le développement des soins palliatifs à domicile et de la culture palliative passera par une meilleure reconnaissance et le soutien de ces acteurs.
Background: There are no data on the provision of palliative nursing care in Egyptian adult intensive care units (ICUs). The Palliative and End-Of-Life (PEOL) Care Index is reliable and content valid; however, its construct and criterion validities have not been examined.
Aims and objectives: First, to assess palliative care education, practice, and perceived competence among adult ICU nurses in Egypt. Second, to explore factors related to palliative care nursing practice and perceived competence. Third, to assess the construct and criterion validities of the PEOL Care Index.
Design: A cross-sectional survey.
Methods: Nurse managers and staff nurses in 33 adult ICUs completed self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed nurses' palliative care practice and perceived competence. A multilevel regression analysis was used to determine the best predictors of palliative care practice and perceived competence. Theory evidence construct validity and predictive criterion validity of the PEOL Care Index were examined.
Results: Thirty-three nurse managers and 403 staff nurses participated in the study—response rate = 100% and 72.5%, respectively. On a 0-100 scale, the mean scores of undergraduate education, practice, and perceived competence were 54.0 ± 18.7, 49.7 ± 18.1, and 54.5 ± 17.0, respectively. Palliative care practice was significantly related to receiving in-service training on palliative care or end-of-life care (regression coefficients: 3.39), higher job satisfaction (0.97), and higher organizational support (1.85). Palliative care perceived competence was significantly related to older nurses' age (0.20), higher job satisfaction (0.97), and higher palliative care undergraduate education (0.63).
Conclusions: Palliative care education, practice, and perceived competence among adult ICU nurses in Egypt are inadequate, especially in terms of spiritual and cultural care. The PEOL Care Index is construct and criterion valid.
Relevance to clinical practice: Palliative care education should begin in nursing schools and extend through clinical in-services. Guidelines should be developed to maximize staff collaboration and the utilization of chaplains in ICUs.
BACKGROUND: Advanced practice registered nursing students need primary palliative care education to care for the growing number of patients with serious illness and their families and to fill the serious resource gaps in specialty palliative care.
PROBLEM: There has been a lack of primary palliative care education in most graduate nursing programs and little direction as to competencies and essential content.
APPROACH: In an effort to support faculty to teach palliative care content, the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) has created an online curriculum that meets the new American Association of Colleges of Nursing Graduate-Competencies and Recommendations for Educating Nursing Students in primary palliative care for master's degree and doctor of nursing practice students.
OUTCOMES: During the first 9 months of its release, more than 170 nursing programs have accessed the ELNEC Graduate curriculum, and there have been more than 200 student completions.
CONCLUSION: Primary palliative care education is essential for all advanced practice nursing students. The new ELNEC Graduate curriculum offers the opportunity to provide quality education remotely.
Along their professional career, nurses can find patients who require palliative care (PC). It is necessary to have at least a basic education in this area, that should be acquired during their university education. The objective of this descriptive online-survey set in five nursing Colleges was to analyze Spanish nursing students' knowledge in PC, offering an image of the status of education in PC. 619 students took an online questionnaire with the Spanish version of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN-SV), which also collected information about their education in the field of PC. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed, and a predictive binary logistic regression model was developed. Students obtained an average 45.65% of right answers in PCQN-SV, with differences related to the college and academic year in which they were enrolled and to their education in PC. In the regression model having theoretical education in PC (OR = 1.70) and academic year (OR = 1.35) showed to be both predictors of getting a result in PCQN-SV over 45% of correct answers. This study showed that Spanish nursing students have a medium-low level of knowledge in PC, and it also supports the need to develop a common framework for nurses' education in PC.
BACKGROUND: Conversations about death are often associated with fear, anxiety, avoidance and misunderstandings. Many adults feel that these discussions are inappropriate and confusing for young people. In this project, two fourth-year nursing students partnered with a local palliative care team to examine death education for children. The nursing students focused on children's understandings of death and their coping abilities, the lack of appropriate discussions about death with children, and the implementation of death education in public schools. Three online death education resources were identified and evaluated for use in public schools. This project fueled preliminary local discussions and advocacy efforts in the provision of death education for children. In the future, death education will need to be incorporated into education plans at local schools, and could be done in collaboration with the local palliative care team.
Les infirmières prennent soin des patients au quotidien mais aussi lorsque la mort survient. Elles réalisent alors une toilette mortuaire qui marque la fin de la prise en charge et témoigne du respect de l'équipe soignante envers la personne défunte. Au-delà des aspects techniques, chaque infirmière se confronte à sa propre part d'humanité dans la réalisation de ce soin. La crise sanitaire liée à la Covid-19 a soumis les équipes à rude épreuve sur ce point.
Nursing students may feel unprepared to manage the care of dying individuals and may experience anxiety and fear related to death and dying. Preparing nursing students for this situation can help them provide quality care to dying patients. This study aimed to examine the end-of-life care values and behaviors and death attitudes of senior nursing students. In examining these variables, the Values and Behaviors of Intensive Care Nurses for End-of-Life Instrument and the Death Attitude Profile-Revised Scale were used. It was found that the students developed positive attitudes and behavior towards end-of-life care, and that they believed death to be a natural part of life and there is life after death. Students who felt that the information they received during their education was partially sufficient were more likely to have negative death attitudes. It can be recommended that teaching strategies in the education of the nursing students be developed.
Objectives: Positive attitudes towards end-of-life care are essential among nursing students to adequately support terminally ill patients and enable students to feel confident about providing end-of-life care. This study aimed to determine nursing students’ attitudes towards caring for terminally ill patients, as well as the associations between these attitudes and year of study, exposure to terminally ill people, self-perceived nursing skills and subjective impact of instruction.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: A health sciences school in Switzerland.
articipants: All preparatory students, first-year nursing students and third-year nursing students were invited to participate; 178 agreed to participate.
Primary outcome measure: Attitudes towards terminally ill patients were assessed using the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale, Form B (FATCOD, Form B), as the primary outcome. Secondary measures were gender, age, year of study, number of terminally ill persons encountered, self-perceived palliative care nursing skills and subjective impact of instruction.
Results: Mean FATCOD, Form B score was 117.7 (SD: 9.8, median: 118.0). Better attitudes towards terminally ill patients were significantly associated with being aged 24–26 years (ß=6.97, 95% CI 2.00 to 11.95, p=0.006), year of study (ß=3.47, 95% CI 1.69 to 5.25, p<0.001), professional encounters with terminally ill patients (ß=3.59, 95% CI 2.23 to 4.95, p<0.001) and self-perceived palliative care nursing competence (ß=1.23, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.04; p=0.003). In the multivariate analysis, professionally encountering terminally ill patients remained significant (ß=3.00; 95% CI 1.43 to 4.57; p<0.001).
Conclusions: Nursing students’ attitudes towards caring for terminally ill patients were positive and improved as their year of study progressed. Professional exposure to terminally ill patients was the strongest factor, followed by private encounters, self-perceived palliative care nursing skills, year of study and age.
This study aimed to investigate actual situations of nursing activities in supporting the transition to homecare settings for end-stage cancer patients and to determine factors related to executing such nursing activities from the perspectives of communication skills and interprofessional collaboration. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 513 nurses who worked at designated cancer care hospitals in Japan. A total of 318 valid responses were obtained (valid response rate: 62.0%). Scores for nursing activities were higher for the following items: sharing information regarding the transition to homecare settings, intentionally engaging with patients after their medical conditions were explained, providing care for families, and understanding a patient's will about the transition to homecare settings. On the other hand, scores were lower for items that were related to guiding juniors and self-improvement. A multiple regression analysis was performed with nursing activities as the dependent variable. 8 factors related to nursing activities were determined: experience in supporting the transition to homecare settings as a primary nurse, contribution to a team (Team Approach Assessment Scale [TAAS]), years of nursing experience, function of a team (TAAS), regulation of interpersonal relationship (ENDCOREs communication skills scale), experience of participation in homecare nursing education or seminars, verbal communication skills for good communication (End-of-life Care Nurses’ Communication Skills scale), and educational background. Future challenges include developing an educational program based on the results of the present study and promoting educational intervention studies.
BACKGROUND: Nurses are the largest regulated group of healthcare professionals involved in palliative care. In 2004, a taskforce of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) launched the 'Guide for development of palliative nurse education in Europe' (hereinafter, the EAPC 2004 Guide). No systematic evaluation of its impact in the development of palliative care education was undertaken.
AIMS: To describe current undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education across Europe; to identify the roles that nurses with different palliative care educational levels have in palliative care; and to assess the uptake of the EAPC 2004 Guide in the development of palliative care nursing in Europe.
DESIGN: Descriptive research involving an online survey among nursing experts, and the consultation of national representatives.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A total of 135 nurses (52% response rate) from 25 countries completed the online survey; representatives from 16 countries were consulted.
RESULTS: In 14 (56%) countries, palliative care was not identified as a mandatory subject within undergraduate nursing education. The EAPC 2004 Guide is widely known and was/is being used in many countries to promote palliative care nursing education. Large variations were found across and within country responses.
CONCLUSIONS: Palliative care nursing education varies largely in Europe. The wide awareness and use of the EAPC 2004 Guide show how policy measures can influence the development of palliative care education. Recommendations are built and focus on both fostering the use of this guide and implementing policy measures to ensure that palliative care nursing is recognised and certified as a specialty in all European countries.
The purpose of this integrative review was to appraise the qualitative and quantitative literature for community-level health behavior theory application to palliative care nursing to identify their use and future research implications. To date, there has not been an integrative review of the nursing studies that have used community-level health behavior theory to guide palliative care nursing research. Despite the availability of high-quality care, there continues to be underuse of resources. An integrative review on community-level theory application may provide a more holistic understanding of previous interventions to frame future interventions and research needs. The review was guided by the 5-step framework of Whittemore and Knafl. Relevant literature was searched and appraised. Seven different community-level health behavior theories were found with applications to palliative care nursing, and 16 studies using these theories were identified for discussion. Community-Based Participatory Research was the most used theory. Community-level health behavior theories such as Community-Based Participatory Research have helped build partnerships and activate community resources such as capacity, engagement, and diversity through culturally sensitive training interventions. Further research using these theories in palliative care nursing can realize positive outcomes, particularly in low-income rural areas.