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Nurses' knowledge of advance directives and perceived confidence in end‐of‐life care: a cross‐sectional study in five countries
Author(s) -
Coffey Alice,
McCarthy Geraldine,
Weathers Elizabeth,
Friedman M. Isabel,
Gallo Katherine,
Ehrenfeld Mally,
Chan Sophia,
Li William H.C.,
Poletti Piera,
Zanotti Renzo,
Molloy D. William,
McGlade Ciara,
Fitzpatrick Joyce J.,
Itzhaki Michal
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of nursing practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1440-172X
pISSN - 1322-7114
DOI - 10.1111/ijn.12417
Subject(s) - legislation , cross sectional study , end of life care , medicine , nursing , family medicine , affect (linguistics) , quality of life (healthcare) , medline , descriptive research , palliative care , psychology , statistics , mathematics , communication , pathology , political science , law
Nurses' knowledge regarding advance directives may affect their administration and completion in end‐of‐life care. Confidence among nurses is a barrier to the provision of quality end‐of‐life care. This study investigated nurses' knowledge of advance directives and perceived confidence in end‐of‐life care, in Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy and the USA using a cross‐sectional descriptive design ( n = 1089). In all countries, older nurses and those who had more professional experience felt more confident managing patients' symptoms at end‐of‐life and more comfortable stopping preventive medications at end‐of‐life. Nurses in the USA reported that they have more knowledge and experience of advance directives compared with other countries. In addition, they reported the highest levels of confidence and comfort in dealing with end‐of‐life care. Although legislation for advance directives does not yet exist in Ireland, nurses reported high levels of confidence in end‐of‐life care.