Evaluating Strategies for Changing Acute Care Nurses' Perceptions on End-of-life Care

Abstract

Providing quality care to the dying has become a primary concern in the United States. Eighty percent of deaths still occur in the hospital even though nurses report they do not think that good deaths are routinely possible within a hospital setting due to lack of appropriate education on end-of-life care. The aim of this pilot study was to test the best method for changing acute nurse's perceptions about end-of-life care. A 3-group experimental design tested the efficacy of a nurse-led hospice collaborative. Hypotheses were: (1) nurses who receive classroom instruction will have greater change in perceptions than the control group and (2) nurses who receive a combination of classroom and hospice experiences will demonstrate greater changes than the classroom or control group. No significant differences were found among the 3 groups. However, the intervention group showed increased guilt about not having enough time to spend with the dying.

Staff Perceptions of End-of-Life Care following Implementation of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient in the Acute Care Setting: A New Zealand Perspective

“…18,22 Nurses conveyed a strong commitment to delivering EOL care, a finding noted pre-implementation 7 and by other investigators. 5,22,30,33 The importance of nursing in EOL care was evident in responses from physician and allied health participants, although it is not possible to determine if this had increased. A perceived increase, by physicians, in the value of nurses following the introduction of the LCP has been identified.…”

Registered nurses' provision of end-of-life care to hospitalised adults: A mixed studies review

“…These insights and learnings were evident, despite nurses also expressing that they did not feel adequately prepared to provide some aspects of EOLC (Hansen et al, 2009;Mak et al, 2013;Moss et al, 2005). Professional support through training, mentoring and positive experiences facilitated quality EOLC and enhanced nurses' awareness of the value of their practice (Arbour & Wiegand, 2014;Kruse et al, 2008;Mak et al, 2013).…”

Spirituality in Nursing

“…To assure validity of the instrument, a 10-member panel determined to be experts in the field of research and spirituality evaluated the initial bank of 21 statements using criteria developed by Gilmore (Kruse, Melhado, Convertine, & Stecher, 2008). To assure validity of the instrument, a 10-member panel determined to be experts in the field of research and spirituality evaluated the initial bank of 21 statements using criteria developed by Gilmore (Kruse, Melhado, Convertine, & Stecher, 2008).…”