Evaluation of Surgical Clinic Nurses' Knowledge Levels About Palliative Surgery

Background: Currently, palliative care plays an important role in increasingly aging populations and their long-term care needs. Surgical palliative care is important for improving quality of life. This study aimed to determine the knowledge level of nurses working in surgical clinics about palliative surgery. Method: This research was conducted as a descriptive study. We included 182 nurses working in surgical clinics who agreed to participate and met the inclusion criteria for participation in the study. The Personal Information and Palliative Surgery Information Forms were used to collect data. Data were collected between November 30, and December 15, 2022. The analysis of the data obtained was performed using the Statistical Program in Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 25. The level of significance was set at P < .05. Results: Nurses referred to palliative care as end-of-life care, 73.1% did not care for palliative care patients, and 84.6% did not receive training in palliative care. Surgical clinic nurses were found to have "moderate knowledge about palliative surgery. A statistically significant difference was found between the average palliative surgery knowledge of surgical clinic nurses and those trained in education and palliative care (P < .05). Conclusions: The results of the study showed that surgical clinic nurses had moderate knowledge about palliative surgery. Moreover, the nurses who have received training in palliative care and had high level of education exhibited a higher level of knowledge.