Factors Associated with Person-Centered Care among Hospice Nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Palliative Care Research
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Person-centered care is crucial in hospice settings.
• Understanding factors influencing care quality is essential for improving patient outcomes.
• Hospice nurses' perceptions of their work environment, professionalism, and empathy are key.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine person-centered care, nursing professionalism, the nursing work environment, and empathy capacity among hospice ward nurses.
• To identify factors influencing person-centered care provided by hospice nurses.

Main Methods:

• A self-report questionnaire was administered to 120 nurses across 30 South Korean inpatient hospice facilities.
• Data were analyzed using SPSS, employing independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported high empathy capacity (4.00±0.46) and good person-centered care (3.76±0.45).
• Positive correlations were found between all measured variables.
• Key factors influencing person-centered care included nurse managerial status (β=0.20), high nursing professionalism (β=0.20), a better nursing work environment (β=0.15), and high empathy capacity (β=0.51).
• These factors explained 65.3% of the variance in person-centered care.

Conclusions:

• Enhancing nursing professionalism, work environment, and empathy is vital for improving hospice nurses' person-centered care.
• Strategies include expanding independent practice opportunities, ensuring adequate resources, and implementing integrated empathy education programs.