Descriptive cross-sectional study to assess the knowledge of undergraduate nurses of predictors of palliative care

ABSTRACT Background: The goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, a subject of great relevance to undergraduate nursing students. Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate undergraduate nurses’ understanding of the components of palliative care, which must be considered while providing care to their patients with life-limiting illnesses. The secondary objective was to identify various factors affecting palliative care knowledge and correlate palliative care knowledge with these factors. Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive study with a cross-sectional design at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India, from January to June 2022, on 130 undergraduate nursing students. The data collection tools were in two sections. Section I consisted of a bio-demographic variables sheet. Section II, the modified palliative care knowledge questionnaire, contained 20 items, each of could be answered with a “Yes” (score: 1) or “No” (score: 0). The maximum score was 20; a score of ≤ 10 was considered “poor knowledge of palliative care.” Results: All 130 participants were female; the mean age was 21.1 (±1.39 standard deviation) years, and 71 (55%) were second-year B.Sc. students. The majority, i.e., 109 (84%) participants had not done any prior course in palliative care and only 71 (54%) had attended any previous session of palliative care. Most participants (83, 64%) scored between 11 and 15 on the palliative care knowledge questionnaire, which signified a moderate level of understanding. There was a significant correlation between the family income of the participants and their palliative care knowledge scores; P = 0.05. Conclusions: Two-thirds of undergraduate nurses have moderate-level knowledge about palliative care. Lack of deeper understanding may be attributable to inadequate palliative care instruction in the nursing school program. To positively impact the students’ attitudes towards death and providing care for the terminally ill, palliative care teaching should be integrated into India’s nursing curriculum.