Knowledge and Attitude of Nurses About Palliative Care

Abstract

Palliative care enhances the quality of life. To improve the quality of life, it is necessary for nurses to have good knowledge and attitude towards palliative care. It is imperative that nurses provide quality care to terminally ill and chronically sick patients. The present study was designed to assess the knowledge and attitude of medical staff nurses about palliative care in cancer. This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in Mayo Hospital, Lahore and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore with sample size of 300 registered nurses by using the simple random sampling technique. Inclusion and exclusion criteria was used. Data was collected from the nurses who have more than one-year job experience. The statistical analysis results showed that only 43.5% of respondents agree on when the palliative care is needed to be provided. Over all in the study, nurses were less aware about palliative care. Most of the nurses distorted the term palliative care. They become confused about the term palliative care and dying patient care.

Keywords

• palliative care
• knowledge
• attitude
• quality care
• nurse