Abstract:
Background: Palliative care is caring for people with serious illnesses that focuses on providing
patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of serious illness. Knowledge plays a
outstanding role to make a friendly attitude and safe practice in the nursing profession, but studies
revealed that there is a plausible gap among nurses towards palliative care leads to malpractice and
unmet need. Even though it requires evidence-based intervention there was a scarcity of subjects
on the topic in the study area and some of the surveys did not identify factors linked up.
Objective: To assess knowledge and associated factors towards palliative care among nurses
working in government hospitals in the Harari region and Dire Dawa administration.
Methodology: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted 449 nurses in Harar and
Dire Dawa administration from Mar 01 to 21, 2019. Data collection tools in palliative care
knowledge were adapted and changed from the validated questionnaire used in some other work.
Data entry was done using Epidata 3.1 software. And so the data were exported to statistical
package software for social science version 23 for further analysis. Binary logistics regression was
carried out to identify variables that associated with knowledge towards palliative care. Those
Variables in a bivariate analysis whose p-value less than 0.25 was included in multiple logistic
regression analysis to identify strongly associated factors. Finally, variables whose p-value less
than 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant association.
Result: The totally 414 questionnaires completed and returned which was with a 92.2 % response
rate. The more than half of nurses 239 (57.7%) were having good knowledge. Male (AOR= 1.88,
95%CI: 1.197, 2.94), palliative care training (AOR=2.77 95%CI:1.68, 4.57), palliative care
education (AOR=2.63 95%CI:1.62, 4.27) and working in ICU (AOR=3.33 95%CI:1.39, 7.96) had
significant positive association at p-value less than 0.05 with knowledge of nurses of palliative
care, However, age, marital status, educational status, year of experience and pain training had no
association.
Conclusion and recommendation: majority of nurses were having overall good knowledge of
palliative care. Gender (male), palliative care training, palliative care education, and nurses
working ward (ICU) had a significant association and palliative care education is uniquely
identified in the current study. Palliative care is yet seeking attention of all stakeholders, nursing
schools should integrate in the curriculum
