Palliative and End-of-Life Care Self-perceived Educational Needs of Physicians and Nurses in Rwanda

Abstract

Palliative care access is an urgent and ethical imperative to effectively manage the increasing burden of serious health-related suffering worldwide. Understanding the palliative care educational needs of health care professionals is critical to support evidence-based clinical practice in Rwanda and other low-and middle-income countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted at 5 hospitals in Kigali, Rwanda, to assess the palliative/end-oflife educational needs of nurses and physicians. The Endof-Life Professional Caregiver Survey and a demographic form were used to collect data. Descriptive analyses and independent t tests were conducted. A total of 420 health care professionals participated in the study (response rate, 72%). Participants perceived their knowledge and skills in providing palliative/end-of-life care as low. Those who received palliative/end-of-life care training in the past 5 years, third-and fourth-year residents, and health care providers with 5 years of experience or more had significantly higher (P ≤ .05) mean scores on the End-of-Life Professional Caregiver Survey. Nurses scored higher than physicians in the patient-and family-centered communication (P = .049) and cultural and ethical values (P = .037) subscales. Pain management was identified as an educational need by 77% of participants. Our survey suggests the need for increased governmental investments in palliative/end-of-life care education among nurses and physicians in Rwanda.

“I Am a Human”

“…These findings support a need for broader generalist-level palliative care training among interdisciplinary colleagues on primary health teams and in local health facilities at JJD and throughout the region. Perceived self-efficacy and palliative care learning needs of multidisciplinary clinicians used in other resource-constrained settings 29 can be used to evaluate competencies and plan education for the local workforce. The 2019 training of the palliative care team included a version of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Core Curriculum 19 adapted to the local context (Figure).…”