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Association between knowledge and attitudes towards advance directives in emergency services
Silvia Poveda-Moral1,2, Pilar José-Maria de la Casa3, Pere Sánchez-Valero4
1School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. silviapoveda@euit.fdsll.cat.
Healthcare professionals need better knowledge of advance directives to respect patient wishes. Increased knowledge correlates with more favorable attitudes towards consulting advance directives in emergency settings.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Healthcare Management
- Patient Care
Background:
- Advance directives are crucial for personalized healthcare and respecting patient values.
- Routine consultation of advance directives in emergency departments (EDs) and emergency medical services (EMS) is essential.
- Understanding healthcare professionals' knowledge and attitudes is key to improving advance directive implementation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess knowledge and attitudes of nursing and medical professionals towards advance directives in EDs and EMS.
- To determine factors influencing favorable attitudes towards advance directives.
- To identify predictors for consulting advance directives in clinical practice.
Main Methods:
- Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study design.
- Data collected from January 2019 to February 2020 in hospital EDs and EMS.
- STROBE guidelines followed for study preparation.
Main Results:
- 173 healthcare professionals participated; 91.3% felt uninformed about advance directives.
- 74% had not incorporated advance directives into usual practice.
- EMS professionals showed more favorable attitudes towards consulting advance directives (OR 2.49) and compliance in complex scenarios (OR 3.65).
Conclusions:
- A significant association exists between healthcare professionals' knowledge of advance directives and their attitudes.
- Higher knowledge levels increase the likelihood of consulting advance directives and respecting patient preferences.
- Targeted education can improve the implementation of advance directives in emergency care.
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