Hospice care self-efficacy among clinical medical staff working in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) isolation wards of designated hospitals: a cross–sectional study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 462,417 deaths worldwide. A large number of patients with severe COVID-19 face death in hospital. Hospice care is truly a philosophy of care that delivers patient-centred care to the terminally ill and their families. Hospice care could provide many benefits for patients, families, and for hospice caregivers. The aim of this study is to investigate hospice care self-efficacy and identify its predictors among Chinese clinical medical staff in COVID-19 isolation wards of designated hospitals. Methods A cross-sectional design was used. The Hospice Care Self-Efficacy, Self-Competence in Death Work Scale, Positive Aspects of Caregiving, and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaires were administered between February and April 2020. A total of 281 eligible medical staff responded to the questionnaires, with a response rate of ≥78.9%. Results The mean score of hospice care self-efficacy was 47.04 (SD = 7.72). Self-efficacy was predicted by self-competence in death work (B = 0.433, P < 0.001), positive aspects of caregiving (B = 0.149, P = 0.027), positive coping (B = 0.219, P < 0.001), giving hospice care to dying or dead patients before fighting against COVID-19 (B = -1.487, P = 0.023), occupational exposure while fighting against COVID-19 (B = -5.244, P = 0.004), holding respect for life and professional sentiment as motivation in fighting against COVID-19 (B = 2.372, P = 0.031), and grade of hospital employment (B = -1.426, P = 0.024). The variables co-explained 58.7% variation of hospice care self-efficacy. Conclusion Clinical nurses and physicians fighting COVID-19 reported a moderate level of hospice care self-efficacy during this pandemic. Exploring the traditional Chinese philosophy of life to learn from its strengths and make up for its weaknesses and applying it to hospice care may provide a new framework for facing death and dying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous hospice care education to improve self-competence in death work, taking effective measures to mobilize positive psychological resources, and providing safer practice environments to avoid occupational exposure are also essential for the improvement of the hospice care self-efficacy of clinical nurses and physicians. These measures help caregivers deal effectively with death and dying while fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Care Workers’ Perceived Self-Efficacy to Manage COVID-19 Patients in Central Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…A cross-sectional study among clinical nurses and physicians providing hospice care to dying COVID-19 patients in China reported moderate hospice care self-efficacy, results consistent with the current study. 19 Another study conducted in Jordan also agrees with our study findings as it reported moderate levels of self-efficacy among HCWs during caring for COVID-19 patients. 35 However, a study investigating the general self-efficacy of Chinese nurses in the face of COVID-19 during February 2020, reported lower self-efficacy compared to this study.…”

Associations between the working experiences at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic and mental health of Korean public health doctors

“…During the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, however, physical exhaustion and psychological burnout of medical professionals at the frontline are increasing [ 5 , 6 ]. In other words, reports of mental suffers among medical professionals at the COVID-19 frontline including perceived stress [ 7 ], anxiety [ 8 – 10 ], insomnia [ 11 , 12 ], depressive mood [ 13 ], reduced self-efficiency in medical practice [ 14 ], traumatic or stress-related disorders [ 15 ], or suicidal ideation [ 16 ] have been increasing. First, in terms of the demographic features, younger-aged medical professionals in their earlier stage of career (with fewer years of work experience) and who provide direct care for the infected patients could be more vulnerable for the poor mental health outcome [ 10 , 15 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Analysis of The Status Quo and Influencing Factors of The Death Coping Self-Efficacy of Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Effective care can promote health and the art of nursing is mainly expressed through caring [22]. A study has have shown that nursing care is positively correlated with satisfaction; the higher the frequency of nurses having caring behavior, the higher would be the satisfaction of patients with nursing care [12]. Ling et al [2] suggested that the priority of palliative care was to provide patients and their families with comfort, the satisfaction of needs, a healthy environment, emotional support, protection of privacy, and respect.…”

“…The main obstacles for nurses to take care of the patients at the end of their lives include their low awareness of palliative care guidance, lack of education and training for palliative care by hospitals, and lack of participation by most of the nurses in palliative care education courses, thereby affecting their nursing guidance ability [11]. According to a survey by Zheng et al [12], the working years, the past behavioral experience of end-stage nursing, and the perceived importance of nurses are positively correlated with the self-e cacy of palliative care. However, P ster et al [13] found that the hospice care knowledge and self-e cacy were positively and negatively correlated with the work experience, respectively.…”