Palliative care nursing competencies and undergraduate nursing students’ views of palliative care education

The main aim of this study was to describe the palliative care (PC) nursing competencies required from nurses on different PC levels and to examine nursing students’ views of PC education. The study consisted of three phases: (I) an integrative systematic review (sub-study I), (II) a descriptive qualitative study (sub-study II) and (III) a cross-sectional survey (sub-studies III-IV). Sub-study I included 21 studies (n=7470 participants) from five databases. Based on a review, using thematic analysis, PC competencies merged from the data, namely collaboration, communication, cultural, clinical, psychosocial, spiritual, ethico-legal and leadership competence. A research gap of PC competencies required in different levels of PC provision was identified. In qualitative sub-study II, multidisciplinary groups of professionals (n=222) defined the PC nursing competencies required in different levels of PC. The competencies required in the basic level consisted of many competencies such as symptom management, supporting and encounters competencies. The competencies required in the specialist level included competencies such as maintaining expertise, advanced symptom management as also research and development competencies. In quantitative sub-study III, final year nursing students (n=1331) responded to a questionnaire and assessed the coverage of PC content in their education and their self-assessed competence of the subject. The students assessed that education on mental symptoms, existential issues and multicultural aspects were covered incompletely. Over half of the students wanted more education on pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management. Almost all students considered PC as a useful subject, but only about half of them assessed their competence within PC as sufficient. In qualitative sub-study IV, final year nursing students (n=766) responded to the open-ended question in the survey and described their views of palliative care education. Based on a contents analysis three unifying categories ...