Factors influencing Korean nurses' attitudes towards hospice care

While the need for hospice care is increasing in Korea, there is limited research describing the way hospice care is understood by hospital ward nurses who may have relatively limited opportunities for hospice education in their workplace.

This study aimed to describe Korean nurses' attitudes towards hospice care and to examine the relationships between nurses' attitudes towards hospice care and their demographic and work-related characteristics.

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 348 registered nurses recruited from six general hospitals were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Measurements included general and work-related characteristics and the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale.

The mean score for nurses' attitudes towards hospice care was 2.52 out of a maximum of 3.0. More positive attitudes towards hospice care were associated with older age, married status, a higher level of education, working at a hospice unit, a higher job position, more years of work experience, having previous experience caring for dying patients and having received education in hospice care. Factors predicting nurses' attitudes towards hospice care included the number of years of work experience and working at a hospice unit in a hospital, with an explanatory power of 22%.

The study was conducted in tertiary care hospitals in Seoul metropolitan area; results may therefore differ in other geographical regions.

Education on hospice care should be targeted to less experienced, younger staff nurses who have no previous education on hospice care or have not worked in a hospice unit.

Tertiary hospitals need to provide more opportunities for their nurses to obtain continuing education on hospice care or increase the number of courses available at the institutional level in order to enhance their nurses' attitudes towards hospice care.