Caring for people dying at home: a research study into the needs of community nurses

The majority of patients in the United Kingdom would choose to die at home, however, less than 20% of patients achieve this. Community nurses are central to care at the end of life, however, little attention has been given to the attitudes of community nurses to this role and how these may influence patient care, and ultimately facilitate patient preferences. This study aimed to identify the attitudes of community nurses to the care of the dying patient and discover the factors that influence these attitudes. Almost 40% of community nurses held negative attitudes to care of the dying. These attitudes improved with training and education but were not significantly influenced by experience alone. Attitudes were also influenced by levels of support, workload and time constraints. The study recommends the development of training and educational interventions to improve knowledge and practical competence, thus improving attitudes. Further study should also examine how the intensity of community nursing visits affects the number of home deaths.