PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Nurses with high levels of hopefulness are more likely to report feeling confident and competent in their care of dying children, found a U.S. study.
Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia surveyed hundreds of pediatric nurses and found nurses who were more confident about their skills were more likely to have received education in palliative care -- the practice of providing high-quality, responsive care to patients with a life-threatening illness.
Study authors Dr. Chris Feudtner and Gina Santucci of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia used the Hope Scale, which measures attitudes about goal-setting and problem-solving, such as, "I meet the goals I set for myself" and "I can think of many ways to get out of a jam."
Overall, the nurses in the survey said they felt most competent in managing pain for patients and least competent in talking with children and families about dying. The researchers found that nurses with higher levels of hopefulness rated themselves as more comfortable with and competent in palliative care tasks, even when adjusted for each nurse's years of nursing experience and their exposure to education in palliative care, according to the study published in Pediatrics.
