Quantitative Study on a Nursing Issue:
A group of researchers led by Venkatesan Prem conducted a research on nurses’ knowledge regarding palliative care. This research was influenced by the fact that inadequate knowledge of a palliative care among these professionals is well-documented across various studies on palliative care. The lack of sufficient knowledge by nurses and other health care professionals regarding this health issue is considered as one of the major hindrances in providing high-quality palliative care services. This cross-sectional quantitative research provides important information that may be used in nursing practice through effective measures of enhancing the knowledge of these professionals in providing palliative care.
Summary of the Study:
One of the major obstacles to the provision of high-quality and effective palliative care in the recent past is inadequate knowledge by nurses and other health care practitioners. There are various reasons attributed to the lack of adequate knowledge on the issue such as deficiencies in nursing education, lack of curriculum content about pain management, and absence of content on pain and palliative care (Prem et. al., 2012, p.122). The researchers used palliative care knowledge test to evaluate nurses’ knowledge regarding palliative care among nursing practitioners. The study was carried out through a cross-sectional survey of 363 nurses in a multi-specialty health care facility.
The research also used a self-report questionnaire that contained 20 statements regarding palliative care. Each nursing professional had to indicate correct, incorrect, or unsure for each of the 20 items in the questionnaire. These items were classified in 5 sub-categories i.e. philos...
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...e, the researchers’ suggestions are not based on evidence based analysis of measures for enhancing knowledge. Secondly, it is difficult to compare the findings of the research with other since it is the first quantitative study that explored the issue from varying aspects. In essence, the difficulties in comparison hinder the probability of validating these findings.
In conclusion, nurses’ knowledge about palliative care has been a major issue in the recent past because of the inadequacies in existing curriculum. Consequently, the issue has attracted increased attention from various stakeholders in the health sector to an extent that several researchers have conducted studies to help enhance nurses palliative care knowledge. An example of such study is that by a group of researchers led by Venkatesan Prem, which provides important insights for nursing practice.
Charalambous, A. (2010). Good communication in end of life care. Journal of Community Nursing, 24(6), 12-14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
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