TY - JOUR
T1 - Nurses' identification of important yet under-utilized end-of-life care skills for patients with life-limiting or terminal illnesses
AU - Reinke, Lynn F.
AU - Shannon, Sarah E.
AU - Engelberg, Ruth
AU - Dotolo, Danae
AU - Silvestri, Gerard A.
AU - Curtis, J. Randall
PY - 2010/6/1
Y1 - 2010/6/1
N2 - Rationale: This study was designed to identify nurses' perspectives on nursing skills that are important yet under-utilized in end-of-life care. Methods: A 45-item survey was administered to nurses (n = 717) four U.S. states with a response rate of 79%. We identified skills that were endorsed by more than 60% of nurses as extremely important and also endorsed as not currently practiced by more than 25% of nurses. We used Chi square statistics to examine professional characteristics associated with ratings of end-of-life care skills including practice settings, years of experience, and end-of-life care education. Content analysis was used to examine nurses' responses to open-ended questions. Results: Nineteen items were endorsed as extremely important and also ranked as under-utilized. These end-of-life care skills included communication skills, symptom management competencies especially those concerning anxiety and depression, and issues related to patient-centered care systems. Four complementary themes emerged from qualitative analysis of nurses' comments, which supported the quantitative findings. Conclusions: This study provides a summary of skills nurses feel are important and under-utilized in their care of patients with life-limiting illnesses. The findings support the need to target both nursing education and healthcare system interventions to improve the use of practical end-of-life care skills by nurses with a focus on communication and symptom management skills.
AB - Rationale: This study was designed to identify nurses' perspectives on nursing skills that are important yet under-utilized in end-of-life care. Methods: A 45-item survey was administered to nurses (n = 717) four U.S. states with a response rate of 79%. We identified skills that were endorsed by more than 60% of nurses as extremely important and also endorsed as not currently practiced by more than 25% of nurses. We used Chi square statistics to examine professional characteristics associated with ratings of end-of-life care skills including practice settings, years of experience, and end-of-life care education. Content analysis was used to examine nurses' responses to open-ended questions. Results: Nineteen items were endorsed as extremely important and also ranked as under-utilized. These end-of-life care skills included communication skills, symptom management competencies especially those concerning anxiety and depression, and issues related to patient-centered care systems. Four complementary themes emerged from qualitative analysis of nurses' comments, which supported the quantitative findings. Conclusions: This study provides a summary of skills nurses feel are important and under-utilized in their care of patients with life-limiting illnesses. The findings support the need to target both nursing education and healthcare system interventions to improve the use of practical end-of-life care skills by nurses with a focus on communication and symptom management skills.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954428778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77954428778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/jpm.2009.0423
DO - 10.1089/jpm.2009.0423
M3 - Article
C2 - 20597709
AN - SCOPUS:77954428778
SN - 1096-6218
VL - 13
SP - 753
EP - 759
JO - Journal of palliative medicine
JF - Journal of palliative medicine
IS - 6
ER -