The Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme regarding End-of-Life Care among Staff Nurses

Abstract

Background: End of life generally refers to the final phase of a patient’s illness when death is imminent. The holistic approach to caring for the terminally ill at the end of life is integral to the health care delivery system. Lack of knowledge and negative attitude among nurses is one of the common barriers to quality patient care. There is a need to prepare nurses to care for the dying, which has emerged as a priority. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching program regarding end-of-life care among staff nurses at selected hospitals in Bengaluru. Material and Methods: In this study, a pre-experimental design was used, and a non-probability convenient sampling technique was adopted. After obtaining the IEC clearance, a Pilot study was conducted, and the questionnaire was validated by experts for its content and relevance. Participation was voluntary, and they were asked to complete the questionnaire anonymously. Data was collected using a structured knowledge questionnaire, and Frommelt Attitude Towards Care of Dying (FATCOD) 5-point Likert scale was used to assess the attitude of respondents regarding end-of-life care. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The result of the study reveals that the significance of the difference between the mean pre-test (15.12) and mean post-test (22.56) knowledge scores with a standard deviation difference ±3.48, which was statistically tested using paired ‘t’ test 15.13 which was found to be highly significant at 0.05 level of significance. Similarly, there was a significant difference between the mean pre-test attitude scores, which is 68.80 with an SD of ±6.16, and the post-test score is 74.22 with an SD of ±9.95. The correlation coefficient of pre-test knowledge and attitude was S=0.197. The significance is P=0.169. There is No significant correlation was found between knowledge and attitude. Conclusion: Study findings reveal that 25 (50%) respondents had adequate knowledge, and 25(50%) had moderate knowledge regarding end-of-life care. In the Attitude level of respondents, the majority, 28(56%), had a moderately favourable attitude, and 22(44%) had a favourable attitude towards end-of-life care. Therefore, the study concluded that Nurses had adequate knowledge and moderately favorable attitudes regarding End-of-life care, and the administration of a structured teaching program was an effective method to improve the knowledge of staff nurses regarding end-of-life care.