Nurses’ perceptions of and barriers to the optimal end‐of‐life care in hospitals: A cross‐sectional study
Author(s)
Lai, Theresa Tze Kwan
Author(s)
Chan, C. W. H.
Chan, S.
Sanson-Fisher, R.
Waller, A.
Kwan, C. W. M.
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Wiley
Journal
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Volume
29
Issue
7-8
Start page
1209
End page
1219
Abstract
Aims and objectives
To assess nurses’ perceptions of what constitutes optimal end‐of‐life (EOL) care in hospital and evaluate nurses’ perceived barriers to EOL care delivery.
Background
Care of dying patients is common in hospitals. However, little is known about the important elements of and barriers to optimal EOL care from key service providers’ perspective, which is crucial for quality EOL care in hospital settings.
Method
This is a cross‐sectional survey. Nurses practising in hospitals recruited by convenience sampling completed self‐report survey questionnaires. STROBE checklist was used in study reporting.
Results
One hundred and‐seventy‐five nurses participated in the survey. The majority (70%) had experience in caring for dying patients. The five most highly perceived factors constituting optimal EOL care included the following: “families know and follow patient's EOL wishes”; “patients emotional concerns identified and managed well”; “patients participating in decision‐making”; “EOL care documents stored well and easily accessed”; and “provide private rooms and unlimited visiting hours for families of dying patients”. Top five barriers were “doctors are too busy”; “nurses are too busy”; “insufficient private room/space”; “nurses have limited training in EOL care”; and “families have unrealistic expectations of patient's prognosis.” Multivariate regression analysis identified that nurses without experience in caring for dying patients reported a significantly higher number of perceived barriers towards EOL care (p = .012). Those with postgraduate degree training reported significantly fewer perceived barriers (p = .007).
Conclusion
Findings identified essential elements for optimal hospital EOL care not only involving patients and families in EOL decision and care, but also documentation and environmental issues in the healthcare system level and the needs for strengthening manpower and expertise at palliative care policy level.
Relevance to clinical practice
This study revealed quantitative data to inform health service managers and policy makers in terms of training and service development/ re‐design for EOL care in hospital settings.
SFU Affiliated Publication
No
Availability at SFU Library
No database links found.