Examining nurses'views and experiences about palliative care

Objective: This study was planned to examine the views and experiences of nurses working in hospitals with palliative care units in Istanbul. Method: The research was carried out between August and November 2019 in 24 hospitals with palliative care units in Istanbul. The sample of the study, which is a descriptive study, consists of 480 nurses working in 24 hospitals with palliative care units in Istanbul. The data were collected through a data collection form that includes the personal and professional characteristics of nurses, their experiences with palliative care and their views on palliative care. Number, percentage and averages for descriptive data in the evaluation of the data; Chi-square test was used to compare the data. Findings: The study included 423 women, 57 men and a total of 480 nurses with an average age of 30.20 ± 7.16. 23.3% of the nurses work in the palliative care unit. It is seen that the vast majority of nurses (71.5%) did not work in the palliative care unit and did not want to work (75.5%). Almost all of the nurses stated that the group of patients who need palliative care is terminal period oncology patients, and the primary criteria that show palliative care needs are the need for continuous care and the difficulty of coping with pain in the terminal period. It is observed that more than half of the nurses (59%) are not trained in palliative care, while those who receive training receive the most training during vocational training. Almost all of the nurses stated that the subject content of the training should be the basic concepts and principles of palliative care. The nurses working in the palliative care unit stated that they should have the most characteristics, empathy and strong communication skills. The views of nurses about their age, gender, educational status, the service they work in, their duty in the service and their working time at the workplace, their previous working status in the palliative care unit, their desire to work in the palliative care unit, their education in palliative care, and their personal experiences about palliative care services. It was found to affect. Conclusion and Recommendation: It is seen that the nurses have similar opinions regarding the need to give priority to the terminal period oncology patients about palliative care needs and there is a difference between the opinions of the nurses working and not working in the palliative care unit about palliative care. It is suggested that the training given to nurses should be increased, the training provided should be planned for all nurses, re-evaluation of the training topics and content, and procedures for nurses related to palliative care services should be established. Key Words: Palliative Care, Palliative Care Unit, Nurse