Palliative care for patients with heart failure: a cross-sectional study among nursing healthcare professionals

Abstract

Background: Acute heart failure is a problem that the public healthcare system faces worldwide. Despite improving healthcare systems and the resulting treatment, the disease's incidence and frequency has increased annually. Therefore, patients with acute heart failure often seek help in the emergency room, where nursing health professionals encounter the condition early or late. In the final stages, they need to focus on providing palliative care to such patients. The chapter aims to determine the nursing healthcare professionals' knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards palliative care in patients with heart failure in the emergency and cardiology departments. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. The survey took place in August 2019 involving nursing healthcare professionals. Results: Of 104 nurses, 50% (n = 52) had received training in palliative care throughout their education and 7.7% (n = 8) had received additional training. Nursing healthcare professionals in both the emergency and the cardiology departments have similar knowledge about palliative care. With regard to the perception of implementing palliative care, the data shows a statistically significant difference between both departments. Furthermore, statistically significant differences between the emergency and cardiology departments have been found in some statements regarding their attitudes, namely that there remains a need for palliative care in treating patients with heart failure. Discussion and conclusion: We believe that the knowledge of palliative care in the cardiology and emergency departments is good, and that there are no major differences between the knowledge and departments. However, further training is required to improve the healthcare staff's knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards palliative care in patients with heart failure. ©2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter. All rights reserved.