Across several countries, nursing knowledge of palliative care may be insufficient

1. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, pooled scoring on a palliative care-nursing quiz demonstrated that many nurses had insufficient knowledge of palliative care.

2. However, male nurses and nurses with palliative care training had higher levels of palliative care knowledge.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Nurses often spend the most time in direct contact with patients and are a valuable asset concerning palliative care services. Currently, there is a lack of understanding regarding nurses’ level of knowledge of palliative care. As a result, the objective of the present study was to analyze the existing evidence about nurses’ knowledge of palliative care to improve its quality.

Of 4,645 identified records, 40 (n=22,980 participants) studies from 12 countries were included from various databases from 2010 to 2021. Studies were included if they were observational and assessed the palliative care knowledge of nursing staff using the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN). Studies were excluded if they used the adjusted PCQN to evaluate palliative care knowledge. A PCQN score <10 indicated low/insufficient knowledge, whereas a score ≥10 indicated high/sufficient knowledge. The review was performed using PRISMA guidelines. The risk of bias was assessed using funnel plots and Egger’s regression test. The primary outcome was nurses’ knowledge of palliative care, as determined by their PCQN scores.

The results demonstrated that overall, nurses who completed the PCQN had scores that correlated with low/insufficient knowledge of palliative care. Furthermore, the average scores for each of the three main dimensions of the PCQN, Philosophy and Principles of Palliative Care, Pain and Other Symptom Control, and Psychological, Spiritual, and Social Care, were below the respective cut-off values for high/sufficient knowledge. However, male nurses and nurses with palliative care training demonstrated higher levels of expertise in subgroup analyses. Despite these results, the study was limited by the cross-sectional designs of the included studies and the use of convenience sampling. Nonetheless, the present study provided evidence to suggest that additional palliative care training may be beneficial for nurses.

Click to read the study in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care

Image: PD

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