Factors influencing willingness to provide palliative care among nurses in South Korea: a descriptive study

The need for nurses to provide high-quality palliative care in clinical settings is increasing with the expansion of the need for palliative care. This study aimed to identify the degree of willingness to provide palliative care among nurses in Korea, and to explore factors that influence this willingness.

Participants were 160 nurses employed in five general hospitals in South Korea, with a clinical career of over one year. Data were collected using an online questionnaire between January and February 2023, that assessed nurses' knowledge and perception of palliative care, meaning of life, compassion competence, and degree of willingness to provide palliative care. Differences in willingness to provide palliative care based on general characteristics were analysed using an independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Correlations between the research variables and willingness to provide palliative care were analysed using Pearson's correlation coefficients. Hierarchical regression was conducted to explore the factors affecting willingness to palliative care.

The degree of willingness to provide palliative care among nurses was 74.43 ± 9.73 (Range 50-100). In the final model, it was found that the willingness to palliative care was affected in the order of: compassion competence (β = 0.48, p < .001), perception of palliative care (β = 0.18, p = .005), and clinical experience (β = 0.15, p = .026). The explanatory power of the model was 41.4% (F = 17.01; p < .001).

Perceptions of palliative care, clinical experience, and compassion competence were identified as factors influencing nurses' willingness to provide palliative care. Based on this study, it is necessary to provide education and training that includes content that can increase nurses' awareness of palliative care and improve their compassion competence to promote their willingness to provide palliative care.