New Registered Nurse Knowledge in Caring for Patients at the End of Life

Abstract

This study was a descriptive research which aimed to examine level of  knowledge in caring for patients at the end of life among novice nurses working in the South of Thailand. The sample consisted of 112 nurses who graduated bachelor degree and had working experience lasted from 6 to 12 months. These nurses had direct experience in caring for patients at the end of life at least 1 case. The instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire which measured knowledge in caring for patients at the end of life. The test-retest of the questionnaire was .85. The data were analysis by the descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.

The result showed that the novice nurses in this study had overall knowledge in caring for patients at the end of life at a moderate level (M = 70.31, S.D. = 10.18). Considering each domain of knowledge, it demonstrated that the sample had a high level of knowledge in the domains Communication in end-of-life care and General knowledge and ethics related to end-of-life care. The sample had a moderate level of knowledge in the domains of Dying and grief and Pain management. Nevertheless, the sample had low level of knowledge in the domain of symptoms management.

The result of this study can serve as a fundamental data for nursing schools to arrange a standard course that has a quality content of end-of-life care knowledge for nursing students. In addition, the study provides data for hospitals to prepare end-of-life care knowledge for novice nurses.