Abstract:

Objective To investigate the current difficulties faced by nurses in implementing palliative care and provide references for formulating targeted management strategies. Methods A total of 2，047 clinical nurses from 27 tertiary general hospitals in 9 cities of Fujian Province were selected as the survey subjects from August 2023 to May 2024 by the convenience sampling method. The survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire and the Chinese version of the Palliative Care Difficulty Scale. Results A total of 2，128 questionnaires were distributed，among which 2，047 were valid，and the valid recovery rate of the questionnaires was 96.2%. The score of nurses’ difficulty in implementing palliative care was（46.29±8.44） points. The average scores of each dimension item from high to low were community coordination（3.11±0.82） points，lack of knowledge （3.08±0.77） points，communication with patients and their families（3.02±0.76） points，and communication with multidisciplinary teams（2.98±0.68） points. The comparison of the total scores of difficulties in implementing palliative care among nurses of different ages，working years，educational levels，professional titles，marital status，and whether they had previous experiences in caring for terminally ill patients and their families showed statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. Conclusion The difficulty level of nurses in implementing palliative care is relatively high and still needs to be further optimized. It is suggested that managers formulate a systematic and comprehensive continuing education system for palliative care and strengthen relevant training for nurses to reduce their difficulty level in implementing palliative care.

Key words: Nurse, Hospice Care, Difficulties in Hospice Care, Status Investigation