Palliative Care Challenges for Covid-19 patients among Critical Care Nurses

Mohamed Ahmed, Mona Abd Elnasser; Mohamed, Mona Aly; Mahran, Ghada Shalby; Mohamed, Sanaa Saber

doi:10.21608/asnj.2023.202784.1551

Palliative Care Challenges for Covid-19 patients among Critical Care Nurses

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Demonstrator at Critical Care & Emergency Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Sohag University, Egypt.

² Professor of Critical Care & Emergency Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Assuit University, Egypt.

³ Assistant Professor of Critical Care & Emergency Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Assuit University, Egypt.

⁴ Lecturer of Critical Care & Emergency Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Sohag University, Egypt.

10.21608/asnj.2023.202784.1551

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic posed a unique challenge to palliative care services. Therefore, this study aimed to assess palliative care challenges for covid-19 among critical care nurses. An exploratory descriptive research design was adopted. Setting and sample: A convenience sample of all critical care nurses who were (74 nurses) and available at Sohag University Hospital's isolation units during study time were included. Two tools were used: Tool (1): a questionnaire of nurses' knowledge regarding palliative care. Tool (2): Palliative care implementation's challenges and strategies' questionnaire. Results: More than half of the studied nurses were female and had less than five years of experience, with a mean age of 29.167.27 years. The majority of nurses had a satisfactory level of knowledge about pain and symptom management (81.1%) and psychological and spiritual care (74.3%), while (64.9%) had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge regarding the philosophy and principles of palliative care. Conclusion: Fear of spreading infection and inadequate resources were the main challenges to implementing palliative care for Covid-19 patients. Important strategies to overcome these challenges included providing financial incentives and a training program for nurses and volunteers on palliative care for Corona patients. Recommendations: Provide training courses and develop strategies for managing palliative care implementation challenges during the pandemic.

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