Knowledge of palliative care among professional nurses in south east Nigeria: A needs assessment for continuing education

Abstract

The current global incidence of cancers makes palliative care important. This study described knowledge of palliative care and its demographic predictors among professional nurses in south-east Nigeria. The study took place in five workshop venues for the Mandatory-Continuing-Professional-Development-Programme (MCPDP) for professional nurses in south-east of Nigeria. The study was conducted from January-December of 2018. A cross-sectional design was utilized. A sample of 415 professional nurses was examined. Multi-stage sampling was used to select respondents. Adapted Palliative-Care-Quiz-for-Nursing (PCQN) was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used for data analysis at P < 0.05. Results revealed that the respondents had inadequate knowledge of palliative care especially on pain management (34.96%). There was significant association between age of respondents and knowledge of palliative care (effect size 27.7%). Respondents aged 40–49 years had better knowledge of palliative care (P = 0.001). There was significant association between educational qualification of respondents and knowledge of palliative care (effect size 20.9%). Respondents with bachelors degree had better knowledge of palliative care than diploma holders (P = 0.001). Type of hospital of practice was significantly associated with knowledge of palliative care about 21.7% of the times. Respondents who practice in public hospitals were more likely to have adequate knowledge of palliative care (P = 0.001). Years of nursing experience was not associated with knowledge of palliative care. Nurses have inadequate knowledge on palliative care especially pain management, which would make them unable to render palliative care to patients. Continuing education on palliative care with emphasis on pain management might remedy this situation.