Nurses' knowledge and practice towards home palliative care of elderly patients

The increasing global elderly population raises concerns about palliative care. Healthcare quality objectives of Saudi Arabian Vision 2030 emphasize this matter as well. This study elaborates on nurses' self-reported knowledge and practices in home-based elderly palliative care.

The current cross-sectional survey involved 148 nurses registered for home-based elderly palliative care in Saudi Arabia. Two validated instruments measured the knowledge, which included the Palliative Care Knowledge Test (PCKT, 20 items) and the PCKQ-Basic (PCKQ-B, 24 items). The assessment of practices was based on an 18-item Palliative Care Self-Reported Practices Scale (PCPS; score range 1-5). SPSS (v-29) was employed for the data analysis, which included descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, multiple linear regression analyses, and one-way ANOVA at a significance level of p < 0.05.

Participants (n = 148) were predominantly female (72.3%), Saudi nationals (79.1%), aged 30-39 years (60.1%), and held a bachelor's degree (63.5%) with an 11.4 ± 5.9 years of nursing experience. Mean knowledge scores remained low as PCKT 35.0% correct (SD=15.8), and PCKQ-B 44.3% correct (SD=17.6). Contrarily, a high mean self-reported practice score was noted (PCPS 4.1 ± 0.7 out of 5). The total score of multiple linear regression for PCPS' predictors demonstrated PCKQ-B score, older age, higher education level, and more years of experience as significantly positive predictors. The overall model remained significant (p < .001) and explained 22.1% of the variance (adjusted R ² = 0.221).

Saudi nurses offering home-based elderly palliative care expressed moderate self-report practices with significantly low knowledge of palliative care domains. Higher basic palliative care knowledge (PCKQ-B), higher educational level, older age, and more clinical experience presented an independent association with better self-report practices. The findings of this study highlight critical knowledge deficits and suggest that higher education and accumulated experience could facilitate better self-report palliative care practices.