Palliative Care Nursing Competence of Chinese Oncology Nurses and Its Related Factors

Abstract

In China, the development of palliative care is challenging because of limited available resources and rapidly increasing demands. The nurses’ competence is a significant element in providing high-quality palliative care. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the palliative care competence among oncology nurses and to examine the relationships between it and palliative care knowledge, attitudes, and workplace learning conditions. A total of 220 nurses with more than 6 months of experience and who worked in inpatient wards were invited to participate in this study. Four questionnaires were administered to collect data—the Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses, the Attitudes Toward Palliative Care Scale, the Workplace Learning Conditions scale, and the Palliative Care Nursing Self-competence Scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations. The moderate level of competence was reported by 212 participants (response rate, 96.36%). The scores were lower in the aspects of competence such as spiritual care and ethical and legal issues. Competence was positively related to workplace learning conditions and knowledge but not attitudes. The results highlighted the necessity of improving the palliative care competence among oncology nurses. The optimization of learning conditions in the hospital is recommended to be a vital force in strengthening competence.