Date on Paper

7-2020

Document Type

Doctoral Paper

Degree Name

D.N.P.

Department

Nursing

Committee Chair

Williams-Coleman, Beverly

Committee Member

Hall, Lynne

Author's Keywords

long-term care; nurses; palliative; hospice; end-of-life; education

Abstract

Background: Early referral and implementation of palliative best-practices in patients with chronic diseases and at the end-of-life (EOL) significantly decreases patient symptom burden, increases quality-of-life, contributes to patient and family satisfaction with care, and reduces healthcare costs. Nurses in long-term care (LTC) are poised to help identify patients appropriate for referral, to provide quality palliative and EOL care, but lack adequate knowledge. Objectives: To determine if a short one-on-one or two-on-one palliative and hospice educational offering can improve (a) knowledge of best-practice palliative and hospice care symptom management techniques (b) the ability of nurses to identify patients appropriate for hospice or palliative care referral (c) increase the number of patients referred to palliative and hospice care. Methods: A pre-posttest design was used. A paper-pencil survey will be used to administer the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN) to assess palliative and EOL knowledge of best-practice care and self-efficacy. Results: Out of 24 nurses, 10 (42%) completed the pretest, education, and posttest. A paired t-test was used to compare pretest and posttest PCQN scores (t = -5.55, df = 9, p <0.001, d = 1.75). Analysis revealed a highly significant increase in palliative and hospice best-practice knowledge among nurses in LTC. Conclusions: Nursing knowledge of palliative and hospice best-practices improved after a brief one-on-one or two-on-one education. It was recommended that hospice and palliative education continue for new hire employees.

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