Palliative Care Knowledge among Nursing Students at Tabuk University

Background: Palliative care directed towards the management of symptoms eases the burden of pain and enhances the quality of life. Palliative care helps in alleviating patients’ suffering and improves their quality of life. Nursing students reported a low level of palliative care knowledge

Aims: To evaluate student nurses’ knowledge of palliative care in the University of Tabuk.

Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used.

Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences (FAMS), Nursing Department. Data were collected between October 2019 to December 2019.

Method: Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained. The research instrument was adopted to measure participants’ knowledge of palliative care. It consists of 20 true, false or don’t know items. A convenience sample of 200 students (second year, third year, fourth year, and interns’ students) was recruited. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire distributed to students. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22.

Results: One hundred and nighty-three (193) were collected (response rate 96.5%). Findings demonstrate that students have insufficient knowledge about all components of palliative care. The Mann-Whitney Test results showed no significant difference in students score in regard to previous palliative care education (U = 3034, z = -1.47, P=.141) or gender (U = 3878, z = -.687, P = .492).

Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated that student nurses lack an adequate knowledge of palliative care. Meanwhile, short courses might compensate for lack of palliative care courses and insufficient students’ knowledge.