Knowledge and practices of critical care nurses regarding palliative care of cancer patients and suggestion for nursing guidelines booklet

Abstract

Palliative care is care for patients with serious illness that focuses on relieving suffering and improving quality of life for patients and their families. Aim of the study: assess knowledge and practices of critical care nurses regarding palliative care of cancer patients, and suggest nursing guidelines booklet about palliative care for cancer patients. Sample: The study subjects consist of all available nursing staff (60) at medical intensive care unit (30), surgical intensive care (30) unit. Research design: Descriptive exploratory research design was used to conduct this study. Tools: Two tools were included nurses' structured interview sheet, and nurse observational checklist sheet. Results: the majority of studied nurses (97%) had unsatisfactory knowledge scores regarding palliative care with Mean+SD 21 + 3.2., more than half of studied nurses (63.3%) had unsatisfactory level of practice regarding palliative care with Mean+SD 19.8 + 2.7., there were no statistically significant relation between practices and knowledge. Conclusion: The majority of studied nurses (97%) had unsatisfactory knowledge, as well more than half (63%) of studied nurses had unsatisfactory level of practices regarding palliative care of patients with cancer Recommendations: Enrichment of all nurses about knowledge and practices related to palliative care will be helpful to achieve quality of life, and reading nursing guidelines booklet.