Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards neonatal palliative care of medical and nursing staff in an Indian context: A web-based survey

Abstract

Objectives: Neonatal palliative care (NPC) is a holistic and interdisciplinary approach towards newborns with life-limiting conditions and encompasses their physical, psychosocial, and spiritual care and the redressal of pain. This study was designed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices towards NPC by the medical and nursing staff involved in neonatal care. Material and Methods: It was a questionnaire-based prospective cross-sectional study done at a tertiary care hospital in India by collecting data using the Neonatal Palliative Care Attitude Scale (NiPCAS) survey which has 26 attitudinal questions on a Likert scale. Results: There were 87 participants including 58 doctors (66.7%) and 29 (33.3%) nurses. Almost all of the respondents agreed that palliative care was necessary in neonatal nursing and medical education; but less than half had received education for the same. There was an overall agreement in the organization, resources, and clinician subscale by both medical and nursing respondents. Conclusion: There were similarities and differences in perceptions of NPC between medical and nursing staff. Several facilitators and barriers of NPC were identified. Efforts should be taken to strengthen facilitators while simultaneously mitigating barriers.