Knowledge in palliative care of nursing professionals at a Spanish hospital

descriptive, cross-sectional study. Data were collected about the results of the Spanish version of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN), sociodemographic aspects, education level and experience in the field of palliative care. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analysis was applied. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 in all cases.

Results:

159 professionals participated (mean age 39.51 years ± 10.25, with 13.96 years ± 10.79 of professional experience) 54.7% possessed experience in palliative care and 64.2% educational background (mainly basic education). The mean percentage of hits on the quiz was 54%, with statistically significant differences in function of the participants’ education and experience in palliative care.

Conclusions:

although the participants show sufficient knowledge on palliative care, they would benefit from a specific training program, in function of the mistaken concepts identified through the quiz, which showed to be a useful tool to diagnose professionals’ educational needs in palliative care.

Descriptors:
Nursing; Palliative Care; Education, Continuing; Education, Graduate; Education, Nursing; Education, Undergraduate

		Mean ± SD	N	(%)
Age		39.51 ± 10.25*
Sex
	Female		134	84.28
	Male		25	15.72
Years of professional experience		13.96 ± 10.79*
Experience in PC^†
	Yes		87	54.7
	No		72	45.3
Experience in PC^† (years)		4.05 ± 4.74*
Education in PC^†
	Yes		102	64.2
	No		57	35.8
Education in PC^† (type)
	Higher education		32	31.4
	Continuing education		30	29.4
	University + Continuing education		24	23.5
	Postgraduate courses		6	5.9
	Postgraduate + Continuing		5	4.9
	Others		5	4.9
Education in PC^† (hours)
	< 20		30	29.4
	20-50		33	32.4
	50-100		28	27.5
	> 100		11	10.8

	Percentage Hits	C.I.*	Percentage Errors	C.I.*
Philosophy and principles	55.82% ± 24.71^†	51.95%-59.69%	36.32% ± 23.82^†*	32.59%-40.05%
Psychosocial aspects	31.45% ± 28.13^†	27.04%-35.85%	54.93% ± 27.08^†	50.68%-59.17%
Symptoms’ control	58.73% ± 16.67^†	56.12%-61.35%	27.43% ± 15.35^†	25.03%-29.84%

		Hits		Errors
Experience in PC^†
	Yes	57.4% ± 11.8*	p < 0.001	32.1% ± 11.9*	p < 0.05
	No	49.9% ± 14.1*	p < 0.001	34.9% ± 12.1*	p < 0.05
Education in PC^†
	Yes	55.7% ± 12.6*	p < 0.05	32.2% ± 12.6*	p = 0.11
	No	50.9% ± 14.2*	p < 0.05	35.4% ± 10.8*	p = 0.11

			Hits		Errors
Experience in PC^†
	Philosophy and principles
		Yes	57.2% ± 24.7*	p = 0.29	37.1% ± 23.8*	p = 0.70
		No	54.2% ± 24.8*	p = 0.29	35.4% ± 24.1*	p = 0.70
	Psychosocial aspects
		Yes	35.2% ± 28.9*	p = 0.07	52.5% ± 29.9*	p = 0.35
		No	26.8% ± 26.6*	p = 0.07	57.9% ± 23.1*	p = 0.35
	Symptom’s control
		Yes	62.8% ± 15.9*	p < 0.05	25.7% ± 15.8*	p = 0.11
		No	53.8% ± 16.4*	p < 0.05	29.5% ± 14.6*	p = 0.11
Education in PC^†
	Philosophy and principles
		Yes	58.6% ± 24.5*	p < 0.05	34.8% ± 23.4*	p = 0.25
		No	50.9% ± 24.5*	p < 0.05	39.1% ± 24.5*	p = 0.25
	Psychosocial aspects
		Yes	31.4% ± 27.8*	p = 0.96	52.9% ± 26.7*	p = 0.33
		No	31.6% ± 29.8*	p = 0.96	58.5% ± 27.7*	p = 0.33
	Symptom’s control
		Yes	60.6% ± 15.4*	p = 0.10	26.5% ± 15.6*	p = 0.22
		No	55.5% ± 18.4*	p = 0.10	29.1% ± 14.8*	p = 0.22

		Philosophy and principles			Psychosocial aspects		Symptom’s control
		Hits	Errors	Hits	Errors	Hits	Errors
Hits philosophy and principles
	rho		-0.78	0.27	-0.29	0.05	0.10
	p		< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.55	0.21
Errors philosophy and principles
	rho	-0.78		-0.19	0.26	0.09	-0.11
	p	< 0.001		< 0.05	< 0.001	0.24	0.15
Hits psychosocial aspects
	rho	0.27	-0.19		-0.75	0.24	0.02
	p	< 0.001	< 0.05		< 0.001	0.76	0.85
Errors psychosocial aspects
	rho	-0.29	0.26	-0.75		-0.73	0.12
	p	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001		0.36	0.12
Hits symptom’s control
	rho	0.05	0.09	0.24	-0.73		-0.76
	p	0.55	0.24	0.76	0.36		< 0.001
Errors symptom’s control
	rho	0.10	-0.11	0.02	0.12	-0.76
	p	0.21	0.15	0.85	0.12	< 0.001

Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-902 Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 (16) 3315-3451 / 3315-4407 - Ribeirão Preto - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rlae@eerp.usp.br

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[1] Corresponding Author: Elena Chover-Sierra Facultat d’Infermeria i Podologia, Universitat de València Carrer de Jaume Roig, s/n 46001, Valencia, Spain E-mail: elena.chover@uv.es