Organizational factors to consider when developing a certification program for hospice nurses: a Delphi survey

A Delphi survey of 16 national experts in hospice nursing was conducted to address the question of which organizational factors should be considered when developing a certification program for hospice nurses. The three-round survey elicited many factors to consider which were arranged by category and ranked in order of importance according to the group opinion of the panel. The means, average deviations, standard deviations, and variances for each factor were calculated. The panel showed a high degree of consensus and there was little change in ranking after the second round. The survey produced results that should be of interest to organizations concerned with developing a certification program for hospice nurses.