Personal and Emotional Factors of Nursing Professionals Related to Coping with End-of-Life Care: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The death of a patient can be a traumatic event, causing emotional and psychological distress in professional nurses and potentially hampering the quality of their care. Optimal self-perceived coping with death involves valuing these difficult situations as challenges and actively coping with work-related stress during the care of the dying patient. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess Spanish nurses' self-perceived competence with patient death and investigate its relationship with their personality traits, anxiety and fear of death. A cross-sectional study based on a web-based survey was conducted. A sample of 534 Spanish nurses provided socio-demographic information and answered validated questionnaires. Most participants perceived their coping with death as optimal. Men and nurses older than 31 years coped better with death. Professionals with an optimal self-perception showed significantly lower scores on all personality dimensions evaluated, while a higher level of the anxiety trait predicted worse coping. Although with medium explanatory power, psychoticism, anxiety, and fear of death were the main predictors of the development of optimal coping with death among Spanish nurses. These characteristics together with information from the work environment and evidence-based practice could help to develop better routines and contexts of care for nurses working in end-of-life care.

Work environment factors in coping with patient death among Spanish nurses: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: to explore self-perception competence among Spanish nurses dealing with patient death and its relationship with work environment, evidence-based practice, and occupational stress. METHOD: a cross-sectional web-based survey collected information from a convenience sample of 534 nurses from professional Spanish Colleges who answered four validated questionnaires: Coping with Death Scale, Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, Perception of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and Nursing Stress Scale. RESULTS: a total of 79% of the participants were women, the average age was 40 years old, 38% had a postgraduate degree and 77% worked in public health settings. Many nurses evaluated their work environment as unfavorable (66%), reported high occupational stress (83.5±14.9), and had high scores on knowledge/skills in EBP (47.9±11.3). However, 61.2% of them perceived an optimal coping (>157 score). The multivariate logistic model indicated positive associations with work environment and EBP characteristics (OR: 1.30, p=0.054; OR: 1.04, p=0.007; OR: 1.13, p<0.001, respectively) but negative associations with occupational stress and short work experience (OR: 0.98, p=0.0043; OR: 0.74, p<0.002, respectively). These factors explained 23.1% of the coping variance (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: although most nurses perceived optimal coping, the situation could be enhanced by modifying several contextual factors. The identification of these factors would improve the quality of end-of-life care by facilitating nursing management.

Work environment factors in coping with patient death among Spanish nurses: a cross-sectional survey / Fatores do ambiente de trabalho no enfrentamento da morte de pacientes entre enfermeiros espanhóis: uma pesquisa transversal / Factores del entorno laboral de los profesionales de enfermería relacionados con el afrontamiento del cuidado al final de la vida: encuesta transversal

Objective: to explore self-perception competence among Spanish nurses dealing with patient death and its relationship with work environment, evidence-based practice, and occupational stress. Method: a cross-sectional web-based survey collected information from a convenience sample of 534 nurses from professional Spanish Colleges who answered four validated questionnaires: Coping with Death Scale, Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, Perception of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and Nursing Stress Scale. Results: a total of 79% of the participants were women, the average age was 40 years old, 38% had a postgraduate degree and 77% worked in public health settings. Many nurses evaluated their work environment as unfavorable (66%), reported high occupational stress (83.5±14.9), and had high scores on knowledge/skills in EBP (47.9±11.3). However, 61.2% of them perceived an optimal coping (>157 score). The multivariate logistic model indicated positive associations with work environment and EBP characteristics (OR: 1.30, p=0.054; OR: 1.04, p=0.007; OR: 1.13, p<0.001, respectively) but negative associations with occupational stress and short work experience (OR: 0.98, p=0.0043; OR: 0.74, p<0.002, respectively). These factors explained 23.1% of the coping variance (p<0.001). Conclusion: although most nurses perceived optimal coping, the situation could be enhanced by modifying several contextual factors. The identification of these factors would improve the quality of end-of-life care by facilitating nursing management.

Objetivo: explorar a capacidade de autopercepção entre enfermeiros espanhóis que lidam com a morte do paciente e sua relação com o ambiente de trabalho, a prática baseada em evidências e o estresse ocupacional. Método: pesquisa transversal pela internet coletou informações de uma amostra de conveniência de 534 enfermeiros das Faculdades Profissionais Espanholas que responderam a quatro questionários: Escala de Enfrentamento da Morte, Escala Ambiente de Trabalho da Prática de Enfermagem, Percepção da Prática Baseada em Evidências (EBP, acrônimo em inglês) e Escala de Estresse em Enfermagem. Resultados: 79% das participantes eram mulheres com média de 40 anos, 38% tinham pós-graduação e 77% trabalhavam em ambiente de saúde pública. Muitos enfermeiros avaliaram seu ambiente de trabalho como desfavorável (66%), relataram alto estresse ocupacional (83,5 ± 14,9) e altas pontuações em conhecimento/habilidades em EBP (47,9 ± 11,3). No entanto, 61,2% deles consideraram um enfrentamento ótimo (pontuação >157). O modelo logístico multivariado indicou associações positivas com o ambiente de trabalho e as características da EBP (OR: 1,30, p = 0,054; OR: 1,04, p = 0,007; OR: 1,13, p < 0,001, respectivamente), mas negativas com estresse ocupacional e curta experiência de trabalho (OR: 0,98, p = 0,0043; OR: 0,74, p < 0,002, respectivamente). Esses fatores explicaram 23,1% da variância de enfrentamento (p < 0,001). Conclusão: embora a maioria dos enfermeiros considerasse um enfrentamento ótimo, a situação poderia ser melhorada pela modificação de vários fatores contextuais. A identificação desses fatores melhoraria a qualidade da assistência no final da vida, facilitando a gestão da enfermagem.

Objetivo: explorar el afrontamiento autopercibido por los profesionales españoles de enfermería para trabajar con pacientes moribundos y su relación con el entorno laboral, la práctica clínica y el estrés ocupacional. Método: estudio observacional transversal vía internet de una muestra de conveniencia con 534 enfermeros reclutados a través de colegios profesionales españoles que respondieron a cuatro cuestionarios validados: Escala de Afrontamiento de la Muerte, Entorno de la Práctica Enfermera, Práctica Basada en la Evidencia en Enfermería (PBE) y Escala de Estrés para Enfermería. Resultados: la mayoría de los participantes fueron mujeres (79%), de 40 años de media, con estudios de posgrado (38%) y trabajando en el sistema público (77%). Gran parte evaluó su ambiente de trabajo como desfavorable (66%), mostrando estrés ocupacional (83,5 ± 14,9) y altas puntuaciones en conocimiento/habilidades-PBE (47,9 ± 11,3). Sin embargo, el 61,2% autopercibía un afrontamiento óptimo (> 157 puntos). El análisis de regresión logística multivariante mostró que el afrontamiento se asociaba positivamente con el entorno laboral y dos subescalas-PBE (OR: 1,30, p= 0,054; OR: 1,04, p= 0,007; OR: 1,13, p <0,001, respectivamente), pero negativamente con el estrés ocupacional y la poca experiencia laboral (OR: 0,98, p= 0,0043; OR: 0,74, p <0,002, respectivamente). Estos factores explicaban el 23,1% de la varianza (p <0.001). Conclusión: aunque la mayoría de los enfermeros percibían un afrontamiento óptimo, la situación podría mejorarse modificando algunos factores. La identificación de estos factores mejoraría la calidad de la atención de los pacientes al final de la vida, facilitando la gestión de enfermería.