Student nurses' knowledge of and attitudes toward palliative care in the Middle East: an integrative review.

BACKGROUND: Palliative care is one of the most important areas of practice because it includes caring for vulnerable people who are mostly in their last stage of life. Palliative care is a relatively new specialty in the Middle East and little is known about student nurses' knowledge of and attitudes towards it. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore students' knowledge of and attitudes towards palliative care in the Middle East, and to use the findings to make recommendations to higher education institutions about its importance. DESIGN: An integrative review following an established framework was used. Hawker's Assessment Tool was employed to evaluate the quality of the research articles. RESULTS: The search found seven quantitative studies from four countries in the Middle East. Their focus was on students' knowledge (n=5) and attitudes (n=2). The number of participants ranged from 110 to 452, with knowledge scores ranging from 5.23 to 8.0 out of 20 on all or part of the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing. Students' attitudes were marginally positive toward palliative care and dying patients. CONCLUSION: There are few studies in the Middle East investigating student nurses' knowledge of and attitude toward palliative care; consequently, more attention needs to be given to this area of practice.

Knowledge of Critical Care Nurses about End-of-Life Care towards Terminal Illnesses: Levels and Correlating Factors.

INTRODUCTION: The preparedness of nurses in relation to providing palliative care is not always adequate, indeed, it is sometimes unsatisfactory; this may be caused by lack of knowledge and limited experience in end-of-life care (EOLC). Thus, this study purposed to assess the levels of registered nurses' knowledge about EOLC, examine the relationships between EOLC knowledge and some demographic variables, and explore predictors of EOLC knowledge. METHODS: A cross-sectional design survey was conducted with Jordanian registered nurses in critical care units (N = 175) in different heath sectors in Jordan. The End-of Life Professional Caregiver Survey (EPCS) was used. RESULTS: Findings showed that nurses had moderate/quite a lot of knowledge (M (SD) = 2.58 (.48)) about EOLC. The cultural and ethical values was the highest subscale of knowledge about EOLC (M (SD) = 2.74 (.52)), while effective care delivery subscale was the lowest one ((M (SD) = 2.33 (.66). Knowledge about EOLC was correlated with age (r = .145, P < .05), work experience (r = .173, P < .05), and training course in palliative or EOLC (r = .217, P < .01). The main predictor of EPCS was training courses in palliative or EOLC (B = .190, P < .05). CONCLUSION: The nurses need to enhance their knowledge about EOLC and correlating factors should be taken into consideration when developing any intervention program. Nurses need palliative care training courses; also more attention is required in palliative care education particularly in clinical skills in effective care delivery.

A Review of the Short Form Health Survey-Version 2.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) is a commonly used measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was to review research articles that used the SF-12v2 survey for three age groups: adolescents, young to middle-aged adults, and middle to older-aged adults. METHODS: EBSCO, CINAHL, and Ovid Journal databases were searched, and 12 articles were identified. RESULTS: We found that the SF-12v2 was used with diverse age groups. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.60 to 0.87, which support the internal consistency and reliability. The convergent validity of the SF-12v2 was supported in some studies. CONCLUSIONS: The current line of evidence indicated that the SF-12v2 is easy to use, reliable, and valid. Future research needs to evaluate the population health status and HRQOL changes over time.