Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Maycas Gembe,1 Tizita Tariku,1 Temamen Tesfaye,2 Endalew Hailu Hailu2 1Department of Nursing, College of Health Science, Mattu University, Mattu, Ethiopia; 2School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Jimma University, Jimma, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Maycas Gembe, Tel +251 936704900, Email MaycasDe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gembe M, Tariku T, Tesfaye T, Hailu EH
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2024-02-01
Series:Nursing: Research and Reviews
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.dovepress.com/palliative-care-practice-and-associated-factors-among-nurses-working-i-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NRR
_version_ 1797319662780809216
author Gembe M
Tariku T
Tesfaye T
Hailu EH
author_facet Gembe M
Tariku T
Tesfaye T
Hailu EH
author_sort Gembe M
collection DOAJ
description Maycas Gembe,1 Tizita Tariku,1 Temamen Tesfaye,2 Endalew Hailu Hailu2 1Department of Nursing, College of Health Science, Mattu University, Mattu, Ethiopia; 2School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Jimma University, Jimma, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Maycas Gembe, Tel +251 936704900, Email MaycasDembelu27@gmail.comIntroduction: Palliative care is not yet widely available. Each year, approximately 58 million people worldwide require palliative care. In Africa, an estimated 9.7 million people require palliative care. In Ethiopia, the integration of palliative care into the country’s health system has taken several years. Previous studies conducted on palliative care have emphasized on the knowledge of nurses towards palliative care, and some studies have attempted to assess the practice of palliative care in specific areas of the country. However, we studied the practice of palliative care at a national level. So, the purpose of the study is to identify nurses’ palliative care practice level and factors associated with palliative care.Methods: We employed a facility-based cross-sectional study design to assess palliative care practices. We considered tertiary hospitals with functional cancer centers. To conduct this study, we included nurses from three hospitals; we recruited 255 nurses from these hospitals. The dependent variable of palliative care practice of nurses was first measured in continuous scale measurement and then converted to dichotomous outcome variable based on a 75% score cutoff value. Based on the multivariable logistic regression output, we considered variables with a p-value of < 0.05 as the factors significantly associated with good palliative care practice.Results: We collected data from 249 nurses, with a response rate of 98%. Based on our findings, 57% of nurses had good palliative care practices. We also identified that the type of healthcare facility, nurses’ knowledge of palliative care, nurses’ level of academic qualification, and nurses’ attitudes towards palliative care were factors associated with the level of palliative care practice.Conclusion: This score of palliative care practice level should be improved. The Federal Ministry of Health, along with healthcare facilities in general and tertiary hospitals in particular, should strengthen good palliative care practice by providing up-to-date training for nurses.Keywords: palliative care, nurses, tertiary hospital, Ethiopia
first_indexed 2024-03-08T04:11:10Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0025dcb25efe400c939c68cac5810b36
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2230-522X
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T04:11:10Z
publishDate 2024-02-01
publisher Dove Medical Press
record_format Article
series Nursing: Research and Reviews
spelling doaj.art-0025dcb25efe400c939c68cac5810b362024-02-08T18:28:26ZengDove Medical PressNursing: Research and Reviews2230-522X2024-02-01Volume 14455890320Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional StudyGembe MTariku TTesfaye THailu EHMaycas Gembe,1 Tizita Tariku,1 Temamen Tesfaye,2 Endalew Hailu Hailu2 1Department of Nursing, College of Health Science, Mattu University, Mattu, Ethiopia; 2School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Jimma University, Jimma, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Maycas Gembe, Tel +251 936704900, Email MaycasDembelu27@gmail.comIntroduction: Palliative care is not yet widely available. Each year, approximately 58 million people worldwide require palliative care. In Africa, an estimated 9.7 million people require palliative care. In Ethiopia, the integration of palliative care into the country’s health system has taken several years. Previous studies conducted on palliative care have emphasized on the knowledge of nurses towards palliative care, and some studies have attempted to assess the practice of palliative care in specific areas of the country. However, we studied the practice of palliative care at a national level. So, the purpose of the study is to identify nurses’ palliative care practice level and factors associated with palliative care.Methods: We employed a facility-based cross-sectional study design to assess palliative care practices. We considered tertiary hospitals with functional cancer centers. To conduct this study, we included nurses from three hospitals; we recruited 255 nurses from these hospitals. The dependent variable of palliative care practice of nurses was first measured in continuous scale measurement and then converted to dichotomous outcome variable based on a 75% score cutoff value. Based on the multivariable logistic regression output, we considered variables with a p-value of < 0.05 as the factors significantly associated with good palliative care practice.Results: We collected data from 249 nurses, with a response rate of 98%. Based on our findings, 57% of nurses had good palliative care practices. We also identified that the type of healthcare facility, nurses’ knowledge of palliative care, nurses’ level of academic qualification, and nurses’ attitudes towards palliative care were factors associated with the level of palliative care practice.Conclusion: This score of palliative care practice level should be improved. The Federal Ministry of Health, along with healthcare facilities in general and tertiary hospitals in particular, should strengthen good palliative care practice by providing up-to-date training for nurses.Keywords: palliative care, nurses, tertiary hospital, Ethiopiahttps://www.dovepress.com/palliative-care-practice-and-associated-factors-among-nurses-working-i-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NRRpalliative carepracticenursestertiary hospitalsethiopia
spellingShingle Gembe M
Tariku T
Tesfaye T
Hailu EH
Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Nursing: Research and Reviews
palliative care
practice
nurses
tertiary hospitals
ethiopia
title Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Palliative Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Chronic Care Units of Tertiary Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort palliative care practice and associated factors among nurses working in chronic care units of tertiary hospitals in ethiopia a cross sectional study
topic palliative care
practice
nurses
tertiary hospitals
ethiopia
url https://www.dovepress.com/palliative-care-practice-and-associated-factors-among-nurses-working-i-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NRR
work_keys_str_mv AT gembem palliativecarepracticeandassociatedfactorsamongnursesworkinginchroniccareunitsoftertiaryhospitalsinethiopiaacrosssectionalstudy
AT tarikut palliativecarepracticeandassociatedfactorsamongnursesworkinginchroniccareunitsoftertiaryhospitalsinethiopiaacrosssectionalstudy
AT tesfayet palliativecarepracticeandassociatedfactorsamongnursesworkinginchroniccareunitsoftertiaryhospitalsinethiopiaacrosssectionalstudy
AT hailueh palliativecarepracticeandassociatedfactorsamongnursesworkinginchroniccareunitsoftertiaryhospitalsinethiopiaacrosssectionalstudy