Knowledge and attitudes of doctors and nurses about palliative care in primary health care in Šibenik-Knin County

Abstract

Palijativna skrb poboljšava kvalitetu života pacijenta i njihovih obitelji suočenih s problemima povezanim sa smrtonosnom bolešću. Karakteristična je po svom individualnom pristupu, te objedinjuje psihološke, duhovne i socijalne probleme pacijenata i obitelji. Palijativnu skrb pruža multidisciplinarni tim zdravstvenih i nezdravstvenih djelatnika. U primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti opću palijativnu skrb pružaju timovi liječnika obiteljske medicine, patronažne sestre, te zdravstvena njega u kući. Specijalističku palijativnu skrb u primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti pružaju koordinatori za palijativnu skrb i mobilni palijativni timovi. Liječnici i medicinske sestre imaju bitnu ulogu u provođenju palijativnog pristupa, te njihovo znanje i posvećenosti bitan su temelj za kvalitetnu, cjelovitu i kontinuiranu skrb. Kako bi se utvrdilo znanje i stavovi liječnika i medicinskih sestara i tehničara o palijativnoj skrbi u primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti, provedeno je istraživanje ne području Šibensko-kninske županije. Istraživanjem znanja i stavova zdravstvenih djelatnika u primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti obuhvaćeno je 130 ispitanika, liječnika i medicinskih sestara/tehničara. Korišten je anketni upitnik koji se sastojao od tri dijela. Prvi dio odnosi se sociodemografske karakteristike. Drugi dio se odnosio na znanje o palijativnoj skrbi, te su korištena pitanja o palijativnoj skrbi preuzeta su iz Testa znanja o palijativnoj skrbi (PCKT). Za treći dio upitnika korištena je Frommelt skala stavova prema skrbi za umiruće (FATCOD). Rezultati ukazuju na dobro znanje o palijativnoj skrbi ,s postotkom točnih odgovora od 61%. Medicinske sestre i tehničari imaju znatno niže znanje o palijativnoj skrbi od liječnika. Iako 82% ispitanika smatra dodatnu edukaciju o palijativnoj skrbi potrebnom tu je edukaciju prošlo tek 22% ispitanika. Ispitanici koji su prošli dodatnu edukaciju iz palijativne skrbi imaju očekivano bolje znanje o palijativnoj skrbi . Stavovi medicinskih djelatnika o palijativnoj skrbi pretežno pozitivni.Palliative care improves the quality of the patient’s life, and their families who are facing the problems associated with a terminal illness. It is characterized by its individual approach, and integrates the psychological, spiritual and social problems of patients and families. Palliative care is provided by a multidisciplinary team of health and non-health professionals. In primary health care, general palliative care is provided by teams of family doctors, community nurses and health home care. Specialist palliative care in primary health care is provided by palliative care coordinators and mobile palliative teams. Doctors and nurses play an important role in implementing a palliative approach, and their knowledge and commitment are an essential foundation for high-quality, comprehensive and continuous care. To establish the knowledge and opinions of doctors, nurses and technicians about palliative care in primary health care, a survey was conducted in the Šibenik-Knin County. The survey of the knowledge and attitudes of health workers in primary health care included 130 respondents, doctors and nurses/technicians. A survey consisting of three parts was used. The first part concerned socio-demographic characteristics. The second part concerned knowledge about palliative care, and the questions used about palliative care were taken from the Palliative Care Knowledge Test (PCKT). For the third part of the survey, the Frommelt Scale of Attitudes Towards Care for the Dying (FATCOD) was used. According to the results obtained in this survey, knowledge about palliative care can be assessed as good, with a percentage of correct answers of 61%. Nurses and technicians have significantly lower knowledge about palliative care than doctors. Although 82% of respondents consider additional education about palliative care necessary, only 22% of respondents have completed this education. Respondents who have completed additional education in palliative care have, as expected, better knowledge about palliative care. The attitudes of medical professionals about palliative care are predominantly positive